Real Madrid were preparing to have their players wear the club’s alternative black kit with a dragon pattern on the shirt for tonight’s Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Schalke 04.
But since the away kit is too similar to Schalke’s home shirt, UEFA have required the reigning champions of Europe to don their pink kit instead this evening at the Veltins-Arena.
The last time Real Madrid wore the pink kit was in the club’s away defeat to Real Sociedad in August. During that contest, Los Blancos jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, only to see the home side overcome the deficit by scoring four uncontested goals on their way to a 4-2 win.
Since that contest, Madrid have elected to use their black kit, created by Japanese fashion designer, Yoji Yamamoto.
Although the jersey has been seldom used in competitive matches, the pink kit has been a commercial success for the club. Whether or not the shirt is “unlucky” doesn’t matter to Real Madrid officials because the kit is one of the most successful selling shirts in the Spanish club’s history.
Programming note: Schalke 04 vs. Real Madrid will be shown LIVE today at 2:45pm EST on FOX Sports 1 and FoxSoccer2Go.
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