Why Shakhtar Donetsk still wear last year jersey?

Shakhtar Donetsk will take to the Champions League tonight against Real Madrid in the same Nike shirt as last season. The Ukrainian team recently signed a contract with Puma which, however, will not start until the 2021-22 season: until the end of the season, the black oranges will continue to be signed Nike. As already seen during the summer Europa League matches - including the semi-final against Inter Milan - unlike many teams Shakhar didn't wear new jerseys, and had taken to the field in the same uniforms as the 2019-20 season.

In fact, the Ukrainian team has not yet presented any new uniforms for this year and will not do so until next season. This is because, by agreement, Nike designs the jerseys for Shakhtar every two years, so that each set of jerseys applies to two whole sports seasons. Shakhtar Donetsk - despite the contract signed with Puma - will still have the same Nike shirt this year with which they played last season, the last Europa League games and the first six days of the Ukrainian Premier League. And that we will also see tonight at the Alfredo Di Stefano camp against Real Madrid (the Galacticos, with stadiums closed to the public, are playing this season in the main ground of their sports center). 

The signing of the Donetsk club with Puma had been attentive as the end of the relationship with Nike after 13 years of technical partnership. Thanks to the important presence of Brazilians in the team, in Ukraine Swoosh had helped to create a lot of hype around the Orange and balck team, that in recent years has always arrived at the knockout stage of international tournaments. With the departure of Shakhtar Nike loses a great player in the Eastern European market, but also international, given that the Donetsk club, with its iconic black orange colors, has always had one of the most recognizable uniforms in Europe.