Two games into the 2025-26 campaign and with three new kits already launched, champions Barcelona have yet to play in any of them in LaLiga.
Hansi Flick’s side have had to dust off last season’s lime-green third kit in their opening fixtures, wins at Mallorca and Levante, because none of their fresh outfits passed the league’s kit selector tool.
Barça’s Blaugrana (blue and garnet) home shirt was deemed too close to Mallorca’s signature red and black and is a direct match with Levante’s colors.
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However, it’s the away kit, a gold jersey in collaboration with the late Kobe Bryant’s Mamba brand, that unexpectedly has caused problems, with the black shorts also proving to be a clash with Mallorca’s and Levante’s dark shorts.
All teams have to upload their kit selection for their upcoming games via an application called LaLiga Kit Selector. The picks must then be approved by the league, with the home team taking precedent.
Barça’s gold shirt should have been fine in their opening two matches, but the tool also takes into consideration the colors of the shorts and socks. The idea is to facilitate sufficient visual contrast for referees, players, broadcasters and supporters.
Their new third kit, which is orange, was also deemed to collide with Mallorca and Levante’s home shirts, forcing Barça to wind back the clock and resurrect one of last season’s uniforms.
Still, it could have been worse. The Kit Selector was brought in because previous protocols — taking two kits originally and then deciding which to use with the referee pre-game, followed by an email system — had led to occasional problems, such as Tenerife having to wear Real Zaragoza’s change shorts against them in 2013.
Could you see Lamine Yamal playing in a Barça shirt and Levante shorts?
Barça will hope to be able to give one of their new kits some screen time next week when they travel to Rayo Vallecano, where they played in their home strip last season.
However, LaLiga’s Kit Selector tool will have the final say.
