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.
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.
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.
Shop the entire AC Milan 2022-23 collection here
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.
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.
Shop the entire Sporting Lisbon 2022-23 collection here
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.
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.
Shop the entire Atletico Madrid 2022-23 collection here
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.
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
The Blaugrana stripes have often been tweaked and reworked for Barcelona home kits. The 2022-23 design is no different, even introducing a third stripe into the mix. While the stripes aren’t bad, the kit is let down by the curved navy section that links both sleeves and shoulders to the shirt’s neckline.
Inspired by the 1992 Olympic Games – held in Barcelona – the club are wearing an all-gold away shirt this year. The colour is absolutely perfect, a difficult feat with gold, and the subtle map of Barcelona detailing adds another dimension to an already outstanding away shirt.
Total: 12/20 Shop the entire Barcelona 2022-23 collection here
Marseille and PUMA have kept it clean for the club’s home shirt, which features a white base and “Limoges” blue detailing. The blue used is darker than many associate with Marseille and its glorious early ‘90s aesthetic, but it's been chosen as a nod to the club’s domestic dominance in the late 1960s and early ‘70s.
The chances of Marseille winning Ligue 1 are slim, and unfortunately they haven’t been able to beat their domestic rivals in the kit stakes either. Like the home kit, it’s a pretty basic affair. The key feature of the shirt, and one which gains it at least an extra point, is the return of Marseille’s iconic light blue, used on the sleeves and crest.
Total: 12/20 Shop the entire Marseille 2022-23 collection here
The key feature of PSG’s home kit is an inversion of its signature Hechter stripe – returning after its removal last season – which frames the Nike Swoosh and club crest. The design is a solid way of reworking a classic. The only misstep is the navy band across the top, which is similar to the one used on Barcelona’s home shirt.
The club’s away shirt is simple and effective. Continuing the ongoing Jordan Brand collaboration, the away shirt arrives in a grey colourway inspired by the Parc des Princes stadium, which turns 50 this year. In a nod to the Hechter stripe, a thin dark line runs down the centre.
Total: 13/20 Shop the entire PSG 2022-23 collection here
Admittedly, the Danish Superliga isn’t Europe’s most famous league, but champions FC Copenhagen have turned out a top tier home kit. There’s nothing too flashy about it. The club’s white and blue colours are showcased with a white base and thin blue pinstripes, while the blue continues to the club’s crest and adidas three stripes. If it was all down to home kits, FC Copenhagen would be playing amongst the European elite.
While the home kit is rightly celebrated for its simplistic approach, the black and white stripes of FC Copenhagen’s away shirt come off as slightly dull. Other than the Inter Milan-esque design, there’s not much to write home about on the club’s second kit.
Total: 13/20 Shop the entire FC Copenhagen 2022-23 collection here
Borussia Dortmund have honored their 2012-13 season with this year’s home kit. Perhaps fittingly, the highlights of that season were second place in the Bundesliga and Champions League, as Bayern Munich won the lot. This year’s kit celebrates those almost-achievements by almost hitting the mark. The yellow and black stripes are as good as ever, but the break in the middle to accommodate the sponsor creates a jarring look.
The team’s away kit is inspired by the connection between players and fans, with a black half-and-half design. Whereas one side is solid black, the other features different sized checks and squares as a nod to the flags flown in Signal Iduna Park’s south stand. It’s a great kit from Dortmund and PUMA,, but even in the kit rankings they’ve lost out to Bayern Munich.
Total: 14/20 Shop the entire Dortmund 2022-23 collection here
Eredivisie runners up PSV have gone for a simple home kit this season, keeping everything very traditional for their attempt to usurp Ajax. The changes are minor – the stripes have been widened since last season and the sleeves come in white – creating a good, albeit unremarkable, home shirt.
For their away shirt, though, PSV have revived the lesser-seen checkerboard design. The tonal grey and black colour palette gives the pattern a more subtle edge, while the red trim and blur aesthetic modernise the traditional squares. Based on this kit alone, PSV are going to run Ajax close this season.
Shop the entire PSV 2022-23 collection here
You don’t see many Mizuno kits anymore, but Lazio has linked up with the Japanese brand from this season onwards. Despite these new beginnings, the sky blue home shirt is fairly standard for Lazio. The key features are the classic white and blue collar and cuffs, as well as a repeated graphic based on Olimpia the eagle.
Olimpia also appears on the club’s away shirt, although in a very different design. The black base is covered with an eye-catching graphic across the chest, which has been designed to represent the club’s mascot in full fight.
Shop the entire Lazio 2022-23 collection here
Half-and-half kits are an increasingly rare appearance in European football nowadays, and Roma have kept their subtle. With two different shades of red, the kit is designed as a reference to neoclassism and modernity, apparently. Roma’s signature yellow also returns, while a single-button collar makes it a formal affair.
Roma’s away shirt might look plain white on first inspection, but there’s a subtle twist that sets it apart. The shirt references Rome’s neoclassic architecture and art with a marbled pattern which, on closer inspection, is inspired by the city and club’s Lupetto wolf. A link back to the home shirt comes from the inclusion of red and yellow accents.
Shop the entire Roma 2022-23 collection here
Ajax kits need no introduction. This season, the Dutch champions have stuck to their classic thick red stripe down a white shirt, a design they’ve used for almost their entire history, which has been adorned with gold detailing. It might be playing it safe, but it’s also an almost-perfect kit that’s existed for over a century and is one of Europe’s most recognisable designs.
A traditional home shirt gives Ajax space to experiment a bit more with their away kit. The shirt sports a simple navy base, but is effortlessly elevated through the detailing around the collar and sleeves. Both sections are finished with a red and gold pattern of repeating crosses, a nod to the Andreas crosses on the Amsterdam coat of arms.
Shop the entire Ajax 2022-23 collection here
Benfica and adidas have managed to slightly elevate their design from club’s traditional pure red design. This season’s shirts feature a tonal pinstripe – referencing Lisbon’s Ponte 25 de Abril bridge – and are finished with a white trim around the collar, shoulders and sleeves. It’s not revolutionary, but it doesn’t need to be.
The club’s away shirt is also inspired by the city of Lisbon, with a graphic print apparently drawn from the city’s tram lines. But the yellow colour and aforementioned pattern seem to keep things decidedly North London with a small reference to Arsenal’s all-time classic Bruised Banana kit.
Shop the entire Benfica 2022-23 collection here
Lyon’s home kit is all about the details. The stand-out feature is the blue and red stripe, which has been shifted to a central position from last year’s left side, creating continuity with the 2021-22 effort. Even adidas’ three stripes have been switched into the red and blue colours, taking it a step above most other kits from this season.
Pyrotechnics get a bad rap in football – just look at the Premier League’s recent crackdown – so it’s surprising to see Lyon launch a flare-themed away shirt. The kit incorporates Lyon’s red and blue colours with a red base covered with a navy smoke graphic, creating an almost marbled effect.
Shop the entire Lyon 2022-23 collection here
The fact Valencia wear a solid white kit always helps them, but this year it’s been given a slight retro touch to take it a step further. Marking a century since the opening of the club’s Mestalla stadium, the crest has been reverted back to the one used when the team played its first match in its new home 100 years ago.
The Mestalla’s birthday party continues onto the away kit as well. Coming in a black and orange palette last used in the 2019-20 season, the shirt is covered with a grey pattern inspired by the shape of the stadium. Apparently, this means that the spirit of the home ground will be with Valencia wherever they play.
Shop the entire Valencia 2022-23 collection here
It’s difficult to improve on Fiorentina’s purple home shirt. The 2022-23 kit keeps it relatively simple, allowing that iconic colour to shine, although the geometric crest has been transformed into an all over pattern, as square lines continue across the rest of the shirt in a slightly darker shade of purple.
The away shirt continues the club’s tradition of a white second kit to complement the purple. The one is finished with purple detailing, the most eye-catching of which is the two tone chevron across the centre.
Shop the entire Fiorentina 2022-23 collection here
After all of the ways that Juventus have tweaked their black and white stripes – “tyre tracks” a Palace collaboration or binning them altogether – this is one of the best. In this case, those stripes are made up of a geometric pattern of triangles, inspired by the club’s Allianz Stadium home ground.
Juventus’ away shirt features an all-black base – already gaining it a few extra points – inspired by nighttime fixtures played under floodlights. Covering the shirt is a tonal charcoal pattern created from a reimagining of a star symbol, reinforcing its nocturnal theme and helping it stand out just that bit more.
Shop the entire Juventus 2022-23 collection here
adidas and Bayern Munich tweaked their red and white colours by adding a horizontal stripe pattern to the home kit. With a range of different thicknesses, the stripes give the shirt an eye-catching look which is finished off with the special-edition “Serienmeister” badge to mark their 10th consecutive Bundesliga victory.
Bayern Munich also celebrated their record-breaking success with their home kit, which sees a plain white base adorned with gold detailing. It’s a pretty simple design, but it creates the perfect canvas for the club’s celebratory colours.
Shop the entire Bayern Munich 2022-23 collection here
It’s difficult for Real Madrid to go too far wrong with their home shirt, but this season’s update is an undoubted improvement. The all-white shirt remains, with lavender and black detailing, but the addition of a single button collar is a masterstroke. The white collar is finished with two stripes – one lavender and one black – to take it even further.
Real Madrid’s European dominance is confirmed through its away shirt, which links back to the purple touches on the home shirt. This design eschews its predecessor's simplicity, though, with a tonal geometric pattern designed to reference the diagonal stripe on the club’s crest. Finishing touches, including the badge and three stripes, come in black.
Shop the entire Real Madrid 2022-23 collection here
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