The best pre-match jerseys of the top European clubs

Clubs across Europe are taking advantage of the unique allure of a stage like the Champions League, even if it's just to unveil a pre-match jersey. Girona, Manchester City, and many others have chosen to showcase interesting kits during their first appearance of the season in the competition's new format, as intriguing as those worn for the full 90 minutes. After all, a top-level match kit should be paired with an equally stunning training one. At the same time, one might think that the creativity and extravagance poured into creating pre-match kits shouldn’t overshadow that of official match kits. Nevertheless, clubs and sportswear brands are free to decide how to boost sales of their merchandise. In short, the Champions League started this week, and even on the jersey front, there have been plenty of new releases: let's discover the best pre-match kits of this competition's opening phase.

Manchester City, Girona, and Shakhtar Donetsk - PUMA

The two clubs owned by the City Football Group presented the two most interesting pre-match jerseys, both designed by PUMA. Manchester City played in the fourth kit celebrating the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe, paired with a matching pre-match jersey: in short, "go big or go home." The same color palette was used but with a different, more intricate design featuring all-over spheres. Additionally, it stood out due to the absence of the font – designed by Noel Gallagher and used on the match kit – which had raised some concerns.

As for Girona, one of the teams with one of the best kit sets for the 2024/25 football season, a similar situation arose. The design and color scheme of the Home jersey were reinterpreted in a more dynamic version for the pre-match, for both goalkeepers and outfield players. It is available in both a long-sleeved zip-up version and a more traditional short-sleeved one.

Lastly, there's the case of the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, which debuted – and nearly won – at Bologna's Dall'Ara stadium. The team coached by Bosnian Marino Pušić wore a pre-match jersey featuring the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag. It's as if an Italian team played with a tricolor kit. The club's colors (black and orange) only appeared on the PUMA warm-up jersey, a rather rare and noteworthy occurrence.

Paris Saint-Germain, Inter, Atlético Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon - Nike

Paris Saint-Germain and Nike chose to maintain consistency between the match kit and the pre-match one. The iconic Hechter stripe wasn’t used, but the paintbrush effect, already present on the Home and Away kits in two different versions, was reintroduced. Although the design isn’t one of the most memorable, some players managed to enhance the pre-match look, like Bradley Barcola, who paired the jersey with three-quarter length shorts.

While Sporting Lisbon and Nike settled for a rather unremarkable jersey, the same cannot be said for Atlético Madrid and Inter. Both are part of the brand’s Tier 1. The vertical Swoosh logo, already present on the third official kits of Atlético Madrid and Inter, was also featured on the training jerseys, in two striking colors: pink for the Spaniards and yellow for the Italians.

Dinamo Zagreb, Bayer Leverkusen, and Monaco - Castore/Kappa

For years, Castore has not delivered great joy with the kits of the clubs it sponsors, and unfortunately, the same goes for some pre-match versions, like that of Dinamo Zagreb. However, the story is completely different for Bayer Leverkusen, which took to the pitch for the warm-up in a carnival-inspired, but highly interesting uniform, unlike their official match kits.

Kappa has not changed its approach even in the Champions League alongside Monaco. The ingredients remain the same: minimalism, elegance, and gold accents make for a beautiful training kit, though the oversized Renault 5 sponsor logo is a bit unfortunate.

Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Arsenal - adidas

Different choices, all interesting in their own way, were made by clubs sponsored by adidas. Juventus revived a design already teased last season, while Bayern Munich opted for a nearly uniform look from the arrival at the stadium, through the warm-up, and into the 90 minutes. The most interesting case is Arsenal, which once again showcased the kit created in collaboration with Labrum London, chromatically very similar to the Away kit and the training kit the club exclusively uses during daily sessions at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.

The season is still very long, and we have high hopes for the aesthetics of the training kits, which experienced a revival after this summer’s Euro2024.