The venue for most Belarusian internationals the Dinamo stadium in Minsk, is also home to local heroes Dinamo Minsk.

A multi-purpose stadium – which is the traditional polite way of saying it’s got an athletics track between us and the pitch – it was originally built in 1934, but destroyed during the war before being rebuilt in 1954. It has a seated capacity of some 41,000.

The ground was one of the football venues for the 1980 Olympics, and at the time of writing (2008) is being used by Belarusian champions BATE Borisov for their home games in the Champions League, the first time a Belarusian team has ever taken part in the competition’s group stage. They’ve been drawn to play Real Madrid, Juventus and last season’s UEFA Cup winners, Zenith St. Petersburg. Tough group indeed.

The stadium is right in the centre of the city, so much so in fact that we don’t need the usual Getting to the Ground section. If you’re drinking on the main drag beforehand, take a left at the statue of KGB founder Felix Dzerzhinsky and it’s two minutes walk down the street. If you’re looking for it on a map, it’s on Kirov street. If you’re trying to locate it on a satnav, then don’t be silly, park somewhere else and walk.