On Thursday 9th December 2021, the Group Stages of the Champions League wrapped up for another season. I wanted to take a look at the kits worn by the 32 teams competing in these group stages.
Overall Kit Stats:
- 89 Kits worn in Group Stages – 96 games
- 46 Home Kits (30 first choice / 16 variations)
- 27 Away Kits (20 first choice / 7 variations)
- 15 3rd Kits (13 first choice / 2 variations)
- Just the 1 4th Kit used (but is it a 4th kit?)
Group A
- 10 Kits worn in the Group
- Manchester City only team to use Home, Away and 3rd kits
- RB Leipzig in two home kit variations
- PSG Home kit most used, 5 out of the 6 Group matches
Group B
- 14 Kits worn in the Group, most in 2021/22 Group Stage
- AC Milan wore 5 kits out of 6 matches, these were worn in first 5 games including 3 variations of home kit
- Atletico Madrid used 4 kit variations, 2 home kit variations and Away, 3rd kits
- Liverpool only used 2 kits
- FC Porto used 3 kits with 2 variations of home kit
Group C
- 10 Kits worn in the Group
- None of the teams wore their home / away / 3rd kits
- Borussia Dortmund only in home kit with 2 variations
- Sporting Lisbon used 2 Home Kit variations
- Beskitas used 2 Away kit variations
Group D
- 8 Kits worn in the Group, least amount used in a group
- Real Madrid only wore their home kit (2nd season in a row this as happened in the Group Stages)
- Inter Milan only team to wear Home, Away and 3rd kits, each worn twice
- Inter Milan away kit did not include the “snake” detailing that the away kit has in domestic competitions
Group E
- 10 Kits worn in the Group
- Barcelona in their “Senyera” 4th Kit twice, initially launched in 2019/20 season, this is the 3rd season it has been used in Champions League
- Barcelona not using their Domestically registered Home and Away kits at all in competition
- Bayern Munich only team to use Home, Away and 3rd Kits
- Dynamo Kyiv using home kit for first 5 games
Group F
- 12 Kits worn in the Group
- Manchester United in 5 different kit variations, including 3 different home kits
- Villarreal and Young Boys only wearing two kits
- Manchester United only to wear a 3rd kit in the group
- Villarreal wore home kit in 5 out of 6 games
Group G
- 12 Kits worn in the Group
- Each team in 3 different Kit Variations
- Red Bull Salzburg only team to wear Home, Away and 3rd Kits
- Sevilla in two home kit variations
- Wolfsburg in two away kit variations
- Lille in two 3rd kit variations
Group H
- 13 Kits worn in the Group
- No team wore all their Home, Away and 3rd kits
- Zenit St.Petersburg used 4 kit variations, including 3 different away kits
- Chelsea, Juventus and Malmo all used two home kit variations
Matchday Breakdowns:
Match Day 1
Match Day 2
Match Day 3
Match Day 4
Match Day 5
Match Day 6
Kit Highlights:
Looking at some of my favourite Kit highlights of the Group Stages.
UEFA stopped the use of elements of kits for two teams, Inter Milan were not allowed to use the “Snake” in their away kit which they opted for a plain version of their white away kit and Ajax were not allowed to use “Three Little Birds” motif on the back of their Bob Marley inspired 3rd kit.
There were lots of examples of “Kit Mash Ups” in the Group Stages this season, this is when elements of a club’s home / away or 3rd kits are used to create a look to avoid kit clashes, some of my favourte on show were…
Wolfsburg – Away kit with Home socks, worn against Sevilla in Match Day 5
Malmo – Home kit with away socks, worn against Chelsea in Match Day 3
One of my favourite Kit Match Up of the competition so far was included Chelsea again, the Chelsea home kit is unique design and really stands out from other teams for me, with it’s use of vibrant blue works well for me and when they played Juventus in a more classic design than recently seen over the past few seasons, however in this match paired with black socks gave us a nice balance and constrast in kit designs and looks which worked well for me.
Let me know you favourite kits, kit highlights and kit match ups of the Champions League Group Stages from 2021/22 Season in the comments below or over at @Kit_Geek
Football Kit Geek - @Kit_Geek 