VIDEO: ULTRAS UNITE IN SYRIA

The European season is in full swing and the Champions League group stage is just a couple weeks away. But while millions of fans across the world will be tuned into the annual rite of passage for the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Juventus, other must overcome unimaginable challenges to enjoy football closer to home.

Our friends at Copa90 released this remarkable short documentary on the ultras scene in Syria, featuring fans from terraces across the war-torn country discussing their love of the game and the importance of the domestic league's recent revival.

While a hundred football fans will have a hundred opinions about ultras culture, there is no mistaking the significance it has for the six groups depicted in this clip.

To obtain such incredible footage from a region considered extremely unstable by just about anyone is nothing short of impressive, and to do so while refraining from relying too heavily on the "war-torn Syria" trope is laudable. We'd expect nothing less from Copa90, who continue to release some of the world's best football culture documentaries on a regular basis.

By Dan Orlowitz, IBWM Subculture Editor. We own no rights to the header image used, which was found at Ultras-Tifo.