Real Madrid had a real stinker of a 2018-19 season. It was the club’s worst in about 20 years, finishing 19 points back of Barcelona in LaLiga and failing to secure a trophy of any kind aside from the Club World Cup in December.
Los Blancos are already look ahead to next season, having secured the services of Eden Hazard following the rehire of Zinedine Zidane earlier this year.
For the first time in the club’s 119-year history, FC Barcelona is adopting a checkerboard print on the home kit. Is it in homage to Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitić and the famous jerseys of his national team? No.
When adidas launched the new Nemeziz 19 cleats last month, the sportswear manufacturer delivered on its promise of a boot geared towards a consumer looking for something entirely new and different — something groundbreaking.
There’s an air of expectancy and optimism surrounding West Ham United ahead of the 2019-20 Premier League season. Manuel Pellegrini’s first campaign in charge led to a 10th place finish — the club’s best showing since its final season at Upton Park — and a four-match unbeaten streak to end the year left supporters feeling bubbly heading into the summer.
There’s going to be a new look to the side next season as Pellegrini continues to shape the squad, particularly up top. After seven seasons with West Ham, Andy Carroll will move on to new pastures.
Clubs LOVE kit reveals. Why? Not only because the club gets new threads for next season, but also because people will buy them. Lately it seems like big kit manufacturers have lost their creative touch, opting to go for cookie cutter designs on their kits that are shared throughout Europe.
Apart from the iconic three stripes somewhere on the shirt, adidas kits can be pretty boring when they're the same shirts that are shared by different clubs. Take a look at these photos from this past season’s adidas-sponsored Premier League teams.
Cardiff City
When Tottenham and Liverpool take to the pitch on June 1 for the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final, Spurs (the designated home team) will do so wearing their historic “Lilywhites” while Liverpool will be outfitted in iconic red. However, more eagle-eyed observers will notice one distinctly different kit on the pitch: that of the referees.
Slovenian ref Damir Skomina and his assistants, Jure Praprotnik and Robert Vukan, will wear the new threads after UEFA agreed to a deal with Italian sportswear company Macron to provide referee uniforms for all UEFA competitions until 2022.
Ajax captured the hearts and minds of football fans everywhere with an inspiring run to the Champions League semifinals. A young team with the right balance of veteran leadership, Ajax took down Juventus and Real Madrid with impressive style.
Juventus has unrelieved its jersey for the 2019-20 season, and it’s a radical change for the club that includes Le Zebre (The Zebras) amongst its nicknames. Instead of the traditional black and white striped shirts that the club has worn since 1903, Juve will go monochrome next campaign with a line of pink dissecting the colors.
Dare to set new standards.
When Germany takes to the pitch in Rennes, France, on June 8 to open its Women’s World Cup campaign against China, it’ll do so wearing a jersey that’s synonymous with triumph in German footballing lore. For most, the style evokes memories of Italia ’90, the men’s World Cup where Germany went on to capture its third title in that competition.
There’s something strikingly refreshing about the way adidas is approaching its Nemeziz franchise, especially before the May 7 release of the Nemeziz 19 boot (which’ll be worn by the likes of Lionel Messi, Roberto Firmino, Bernardo Silva and Isco). In essence, it’s a boot that’s highly self-aware: It’s not trying to be all things to all people, and it’s certainly not an example of drawing an eye-catching design and then simply manufacturing it.
This is a revolution in material, construction and performance.