Darijo Srna named caretaker coach of Shakhtar Donetsk

Former Croatian international Darijo Srna has been appointed caretaker coach of Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk following the dismissal of Patrick van Leeuwen.

"Today I accepted Shakhtar, because they are my family. When the family has a hard time, you have to help," he said in an interview on the club's website Friday.

Srna, at 41 years of age, has limited coaching experience but previously served as assistant coach at Shakhtar from 2019 to 2020 and subsequently became the club's director of football.

"I told them yesterday (Thursday) that I am not Guardiola, I am not Klopp, I am Darijo Srna, who does not have much experience in coaching, but I have miner's heart," he stated.

"And this heart told me that I need to help the team today. In such a difficult situation for the country, for Shakhtar, I could not refuse and told the president that I am all for it."

It will be a baptism of fire for the Croatian as Shakhtar travel to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in the Champions League on October 25 in what will be just his second match in charge.

The Ukrainian side currently sit in third place in Group H, three points behind leaders Barcelona and equal on points with second placed Porto.

Prior to this encounter, Shakhtar will host LNZ in the Ukrainian Premier League on Saturday, where a win could see them leapfrog from third into first place in the table, dependant on other results.

During his playing career, Srna represented his national side 134 times. The right-back played for Hajduk Split, then Shakhtar Donetsk for 15 seasons, before finishing his career in Italy with Cagliari.