Ukraine champion Shakhtar Donetsk hires Dutch coach Patrick van Leeuwen

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk has hired Dutch coach Patrick van Leeuwen to return to the club where he was a long-time youth academy director. Shakhtar says Van Leeuwen signed a two-year contract with the club which will play in the group stage of the Champions League in September. Van Leeuwen knows Ukraine well after seven years with Shakhtar’s youth players until 2013. He coached Zorya Luhansk to third place in the Ukrainian league last season. Shakhtar now relies more on homegrown players since its traditional group of Brazilian players left after the Russian invasion started last year.