Away kits are stealing the show this season. Nobody is really talking about the home shirts, and honestly, why would they. The archives have been raided across the board this time round and the away rail is where everything interesting ended up. Real Madrid have revived a cult green colourway, Chelsea have kept things sharp in black and gold, and Juventus have returned to pink. AC Milan’s white shirt tells a story of redemption from Istanbul to Athens, while Arsenal have reimagined the ‘Bruised Banana’ in navy and yellow. Ajax have woven nine of the club’s greatest achievements into a black-and-orange design, Manchester United have brought back the blue, and Barcelona’s latest Kobe tribute blends black, purple and gold.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid and adidas went dark green, and it is the club’s first green shirt in over a decade. Madrid say the design reinterprets a colour combination used in the past, built on an ‘Aurora Ivy’ base with off-white trim and a subtle geometric pattern carrying the club’s initials. The last time green turned up on a Madrid shirt was the 2012/13 third kit, the José Mourinho-era jersey that has since become a collector favourite. The adidas Trefoil sits on the chest too, a logo the club has not carried on an away shirt since the mid-1980s.
Chelsea
Chelsea went the other way entirely. Their Nike away shirt is a solid black base with ‘Midwest Gold’ detailing, the club’s first black change kit since the 2016/17 title-winning campaign. Chelsea frame it as a nod to their ‘Italian Renaissance’ of the 1990s, with a gold laurel wreath bordering the neckline and cuffs, and the standalone Rampant Lion crest replacing the full badge, marking 75 years since Ted Drake introduced the emblem.
Read More
Juventus
Juventus went further back than anyone. Their adidas away shirt returns to pink, the colour worn in Turin between 1898 and 1901, before repeated washing faded the original shirts and forced the switch to black and white. The new version pairs a soft pink base with a tonal zebra pattern, black collar and cuffs, and the Trefoil on the chest. Pink last appeared on a Juventus kit in 2016/17.
AC Milan
AC Milan’s white PUMA shirt carries the heaviest story of the eight. Marking 20 years since the 2007 Champions League final, the design is built around the phrase ‘Dopo Istanbul c’è sempre Atene’, printed inside the collar, referencing the 2005 defeat to Liverpool and the win over the same opponent two years later in Athens. A tonal pattern inspired by Greek marble runs through the fabric, with a gold laurel wreath around the crest and the Greek inscription ‘Δύναμη Ψυχής’ embossed inside the neckline. Filippo Inzaghi fronts the campaign, which makes sense given the night in question.
Arsenal
Arsenal, meanwhile, have inverted one of the most recognisable shirts in football history. Their adidas away kit reworks the 1991–93 ‘Bruised Banana’ by flipping the palette, putting the geometric graphic on a ‘Collegiate Navy’ base with red and yellow accents rather than the original yellow. Riccardo Calafiori said the squad knows what the design means to supporters, pointing to how many still wear the original. It arrives as the Premier League champions prepare to defend their title.
Ajax
Ajax have taken the archive approach literally. Their black shirt with orange accents carries a light-grey graphic marking nine of the club’s defining achievements, among them the 1995 Champions League win, the third star earned in 2011, and the European Cup treble of 1971, 1972 and 1973. It is also the first Ajax match shirt to carry the adidas Originals logo since the partnership began in 2000.
Manchester United
Manchester United have returned to royal blue, drawing on the third kits worn in the late 1980s. The tonal wave pattern running through the fabric references the River Irwell, and the V-neck and cuffs carry red and white trim alongside the Trefoil. The launch was slightly undercut by the club itself, which shared an image of Stormzy wearing the unreleased shirt at the World Cup final a day before the official reveal.
Barcelona
Barcelona close the set with the second instalment of their Nike collaboration with the Kobe Bryant brand. The shirt fades from black at the shoulders into ‘Field Purple’ at the hem, the shade associated with the Los Angeles Lakers, finished with iridescent gold logos and a snakeskin-inspired pattern. Inside the collar sits a Bryant line about leaving the game better than you found it. Last season’s gold Mamba shirt became one of the club’s best-selling products, so expectations are high for this one.
At this point, the away shirt might be the main event.
