Barcelona’s new shirts deviate from their iconic stripes again and it’s terrible

Barcelona has the most iconic shirt in world football. Their blaugrana stripes are recognized the world over, and when they don’t screw it up, their shirt is often one of the best-designed ones you can buy every year. But if next year’s rumored shirt is to be believed? Yikes.

This is probably real, unless Nike decides to make some last-minute changes due to backlash. Sport published some mock-ups of the new shirt last spring and this leaked shirt looks exactly like what they reported. Sport also disagrees with this writer’s opinion, calling the design “innovative,” while reporting that club directors say “it’s the design which has been best received” by supporters.

The last time Barcelona went with something weird was in the 2011-12 season, when they put this default Photoshop gradient nonsense on their shirts.

I’m not against experimenting with kits, but this is what away and third shirts are for. A team’s away and third shirts should be as creative as possible every year, even if they don’t look like they fit the team. The Minty Fresh and Tequila Sunrise designs, while not my favorites, were fine ideas for away kits. The Catalan flag away shirt might be the best Barcelona has ever done.

But the home shirt? Don’t mess with it. This is what a Barcelona home shirt looks like, period.