With eight heavy hitters remaining in the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League, we dive into each club’s kit history to pick out the best shirt from their incredibly deep bags.
We’re getting into the final stretch of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League. Only eight teams remain, and it’s a who’s who of European giants. Reigning champions Manchester City are joined by Arsenal, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Paris Saint-Germain, which should make for some entertaining football over the next two months.
But instead of focusing on potential outcomes, players to watch, and other aspects that deal with the on-pitch product, we thought we’d take a dive into each of the remaining teams’ kit histories, to determine which is best.
With a lineup this prestigious, it was no easy task. But we carried on nonetheless. These are the best kits from the final eight UCL clubs.
Paris Saint-Germain: 2018-19 Fourth
If there’s one thing Paris Sant-Germain have been in their 50-plus year history, it’s stylish. With the trademark Hechter stripe design, there’s nary a PSG shirt that doesn’t look good. Throughout the ‘90s, the club had a trove of gems that are among some of the most sought after grails among collectors today. But none quite changed the game like the Air Jordan kits that were introduced in the 2018-19 season.
With both a black home and white away strip worn in Champions League play, this marked the first time we’d ever see a Jumpman on a kit — an announcement that the club’s transformation was entering a new phase. European silverware has yet to head to the City of Lights, and until a Champions League crown is bestowed upon PSG, this will be the club’s biggest moment of the past decade.
Manchester City: 1990-92 Away
To not pick a sky blue shirt might be heretic, but just look at the shade of maroon used in the club’s 1990-92 away shirt. It’s not a color you see used very often anymore, and when re-done, like City did in 2018-19, it’s often not executed properly.
The triangular pattern is everything we love about ‘90s shirts, and the contrast of the sky blue accents to go along with the iconic Brother sponsor makes this one of the most memorable shirts of all time. Even more, it accomplished the nearly impossible task of replacing another iconic shirt, which City used in the 1988-90 seasons.
Bayern Munich: 1987-88 Home
Before the gluttony and excess of the ‘90s, the ‘80s gave us some of the most beautifully simple kits. You can’t really go wrong with the old school adidas trefoil on a plain red shirt and iconic sponsor. Make it a long sleeve and pair it with those shorts Mark Hughes is wearing in the above picture, and you have yourself one hell of a kit.
Real Madrid: 2014-15 Third
Real Madrid have one of the most dependable kit histories in all of football. The home white kit is rarely adulterated or revolutionized, and we get some fun color mixes for the away and alternate shirts.
This formula has produced a tried and true, if not repetitive kit closet, with a few bangers sprinkled in the mix — particularly during the brief dalliance the club had with the color purple in the early ‘90s. The best of all time, however, would come when Real Madrid, adidas, and Yohji Yamamoto teamed up to create one of the greatest shirts since the turn of the century.
The dragon design, grandad collar, and simple elegance of the shirt won’t be forgotten any time soon, and was even brought back in 2020 as part of Pharrell Williams’ reimagined classic shirt collection.
Arsenal: 2005-06 Home
Be it Dortmund, PSG, or Barcelona, there are some heavy hitters on this list when it comes to kit history. But none have a bag as deep as Arsenal’s. From the Bruised Banana to the Sega, JVC, and O2 eras, the North London club might just have the greatest kits of any team in the world.
There were plenty of avenues we could’ve gone down when selecting Arsenal’s greatest ever kit, but all of them lead to the infamous claret home shirt from the 2005-06 season. A departure from the brighter hues of red the club is known for, this shirt, which looks more like a third kit than a home one, was a big swing despite its relatively simple design. But the risk paid off, as the particular shade of red — call it redcurrant, oxblood, or whatever you’d like — is one of the most elegant ever used on a football shirt.
Borussia Dormund: 1994-95 Home
Borussia Dortmund’s run in the ’90s was the stuff of legend. Year after year, Nike and the club would produce bonafide heat in gaudy neon yellow tones. The best of the bunch came in the 1994-95 season, which saw the home and away kit employ a winged pattern on the sleeves. The design proved that templates can be not just good, but great, as Nigeria used the same look on their equally stunning kits from the same season. This template would go on to inspire another all-time kit in Nigeria’s 2018 World Cup shirt as well.
Atletico Madrid: 2004-05 Away, Spider-Man 2
Kit sponsors can make or break a football shirt, and in the case of Atletico Madrid in the 2004-05 season, it was a bit of both. A unique partnership with kit sponsor Columbia Pictures allowed for the club to promote a wide array of different film releases that year, from Hitch (didn’t work) to Hellboy (hell yeah).
The best of the bunch was the Spider-Man 2 version, which took an otherwise plain Atletico away shirt and turned it into something iconic.
Barcelona: 1995-97 Away
The blaugrana stripes are one of the most iconic and recognizable design elements in all of football. Your pick for the best home kit in the club’s illustrious history can change depending on the day (today, for me it’s the 2010-11 version with the yellow collar). Instead, I thought I’d highlight one of the club’s away shirts, which kept the stripe motif of the home but used a brilliant teal color scheme that couldn’t be any more ‘90s.
It wasn’t the first nor last time Barcelona would use teal, but it’s definitely the most memorable.
