The ESL might have failed but we have reignited it to see who wins the replica shirt battle
After the Premier League and Bundesliga returned last weekend, La Liga, Serie A and the rest of European football is now due to kick off for the 2022-23 season. As continental football comes back, so too do the great and the good of kits.
With the start of the 2022-23 season finally here, then, this is how Europe’s biggest clubs would rank if all that mattered were their kits.
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AC Milan / GOAL20AC Milan
Home: 5/10
After ending their long wait for the Serie A crown, AC Milan have missed the mark slightly with their home shirt. The black and red stripes are there, as ever, and the number and width is as solid as ever, but the stark black line across the top of the shirt takes away from the otherwise strong shirt.
Away: 4/10
AC Milan’s away shirt is a reference to their 1963 Champions League-winning team, but there’s nothing champion about it. The red stripes, and the framing of the sponsor, brings to mind PUMA’s disastrous third kits from the 2021-22 season, and its probably best if we all forgot about those designs as quickly as possible.
Total: 9/20
Shop the entire AC Milan 2022-23 collection here
Advertisement Sporting Lisbon / GOAL19Sporting Lisbon
Home: 7/10
Sporting Lisbon’s world-famous green and white hoops are a romantic throwback in European football, a reminder of the club’s glory years. This season, those colours have been slightly updated – with thinner lines also featuring – while managing to stay true to one of the continent’s most iconic kits.
Away: 3/10
The away shirt is an altogether different story, though, with “Volt Green” hoops running around a black base. A gradient effect sees the hoops slowly fade away – apparently to look like light reflecting off the surface. With such a classic home kit, Sporting’s away performance doesn’t bode well for the season ahead.
Total: 10/20
Shop the entire Sporting Lisbon 2022-23 collection here
Atletico Madrid / GOAL18Atletico Madrid
Home: 5/10
Atletico Madrid’s decision to change the club’s vertical stripes hasn’t gone down well with fans. The kit – which features curved red and white lines – is reportedly the worst selling in the club’s history and sales are down 40%. Obviously it’s difficult to see your beloved club tweak its classic design, but the Atletico Madrid kit isn’t that bad. Maybe that’s the best we can say about it.
Away: 6/10
While the home kit is a jazzy reinterpretation of the club colours, the away kit plays things fairly safe. The shirt is mostly black and is finished with a “Deep Royal Blue” trim around the collar and sleeves. All in all its a strong design, but it doesn’t quite make up for the home kit.
Total: 11/20
Shop the entire Atletico Madrid 2022-23 collection here
FC Porto / GOAL17FC Porto
Home: 6/10
The blue and white stripes that Porto are known for return in an absolutely OK design. The spacing and size of each stripe works well – three blue and four white – and the use of jacquard structures creates a subtle pattern. Overall, it’s a solid, if unspectacular, attempt from FC Porto this season.
Away: 5/10
While they’ve kept things simple for the home kit, New Balance and Porto have gone bright yellow on the away shirt. The design is a nod to some of the club’s most successful recent seasons, when it wore a yellow second kit. That’s all fine, but the tonal nearly-stripes end up taking away from the overall design.
Total: 11/20
Shop the entire FC Porto 2022-23 collection here