Tag: Kits

After six match weeks, 96 games and we have now seen the end of the Group Stages of 2018/19 Champions League, so it is time for me to look back at what was worn by the 32 teams taking part.

Group A:

Group A saw relatively few kit clashes (yes, that does not normally stop teams from changing their kits, more on that later), with Club Brugge the only team to wear their three kits (3rd at Monaco and away at Borussia Dortmund).  Dortmund remained in their “Champions League” home kit for all six games but did wear the alternative black shorts for four of these games.  Another variation in kit was the light blue shorts worn by Atletico Madrid away at Borussia Dortmund.

Group B

In Group B we 10 of the possible 12 kits won through the Six Match Days, with Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven wearing all three of their kits.  Tottenham Hotspur, as is their tradition went with an all white strip, however with their current home shirt have a gradient of navy in the lower half of the shirt was a little jarring in its appearance.  Nike dominating this group, so some of the bespoke 3rd kits on show, both Barcelona and Tottenham have elements of their home cities in their shirt and Inter Milan have a graphic of the cross taken from the flag of Milan and seen used in past Inter kits.  The stand out in the group for me was PSV, the kits produced by Umbro for the team this are some of the best, in particular the navy blue 3rd kit worn at Tottenham Hotspur.

Group C

Group C, well we have to start with Paris St. Germain, whose Nike Air Jordan shirts became the go to choice of shirt for the team in the Champions League this season, wearing Black in 5 out of the 6 game and white in the other (home against Liverpool), one word Marketing…. moving on, Napoli were another team that had special “Champions League” kit, very similar to their domestic kit but highlighted with neon yellow trim, the all blue version worn in the first game against Red Star Belgrade was a particular highlight (literally) for me. Red Star the only team in the group to wear all three of their kits.  Liverpool only changed to their vibrant purple away kit in the game at Red Star and “forced” PSG to wear their white Air Jordan kit but refusing to change from their Home kit, a clash that caused no problem in the previous fixture at Anfield.

Group D

Looking at Group D, another Group which saw 10 out of the possible 12 kits used, with Schalke and Porto using all three kits.  Another great set of Umbro kits for Schalke here, the third kit being a favourite of mine, a full green kit was worn against Porto.  Galatasary could have potential worn their home kit for all six games, however wore their 3rd kit in their final home game against Porto wearing their 3rd kit (were both teams could have worn home kits with no clash, as happened in the reverse fixture).

Group E

Group E was one of the groups that saw minimal changes in each team, AEK Athens wore their home kit for all six games, Benfica for 5 games, Bayern for 4 games and Ajax for 3.  A group wear Adidas supplying three of the teams in this group, saw a couple of the templates used in 2018/19 season, the Ajax away being one of the best looking kits in that style on show this season matched with black shorts, rather then gold used domestically.

Group F

In Group F, the orange group, with each team using orange as part of their kit through out the group stage.  Olympic Lyon taking to the field in another one of the best versions of that Adidas template.  Manchester City’s home kit, again showing what a difference socks make to a kit, the navy socks really making the kit stand out especially when compared to the white socks (worn away at Shakhtar Donetsk).

Group G

Group G was another group that saw minimal change in the kits used, with only 7 of the possible 12 kits used.  Holders Real Madrid wore their famous all white home kit in all games, with the other three teams only needing to use change kits twice in their six games.  Group G was also one of the groups that had four different kit manufactures from the four team represented (Group C and Group D being the others).

Group H

Finally Group H, another group which sees three of the teams kits being manufactured by Adidas.  This group saw the least amount of changes, with each team wearing their home shirt for 5 out 6 games.  Manchester United who traditionally wear white shorts and socks with their home shirt in European games but like Tottenham do have a shirt that gradients in colour this season, looked to also stick to their tradition in the first game of the group, wearing Red/White/White combo against Young Boys but for the rest of the group return the Red/Black/Red kit they have been using this season (apart from final game at Valencia where white socks were worn).

Kit Data

Looking at some of the data of kits worn, we can see the following.

• Home Kits – 73% (67% Full Home, 6% variation)
• Away Kits –  14% (12% Full Away, 2% variation)
• 3rd Kits – 13% (10% Full 3rd, 3% variation)

Manufacturers in Champions League

• Nike – 12
• Adidas – 7
• Umbro – 3
• Macron – 2
• New Balance – 2
• Puma – 2
• Capelli – 1
• Kappa – 1
• Lotto – 1
• Under Armour – 1

Match Week breakdown, who wore what against whom

Match Week 1

Match Week 2

Match Week 3

Match Week 4

Match Week 5

Match Week 6

I’ll end the post by sharing with you my favourite kit worn so far in 2018/19 Champions League.  It is PSV Eindhoven’s 3rd kit worn at Wembley against Tottenham in Match Week 4.

Let me know your kit highlights from Champions League in the comments or via Twitter @Kit_Geek