Ranking the 10 best Champions League winning kits of all-time

For one of Aston Villa’s most memorable moments, the club was forced to change from its classic claret and blue. In its place, they wore a white shirt that nodded to the usual colours with a claret pinstripe. It was all finished off with a central badge, making it a fitting winner for the tournament 40 years ago.

PSV also departed from their traditional colours for their first, and so far only, Champions League triumph. Eschewing their red and white stripes so that Benfica could wear their all-red home strip, the Eindhoven team instead wore white shirts with a light blue trim, contrasting nicely with the red detailing. 

The 1992 Champions League final marked the end of Barcelona’s relationship with cult local brand Meyba, who had produced their kits for 10 years. Barcelona’s final game in a Meyba shirt saw them sport a bright orange design finished off with red and blue sections. A fitting colour for Ronald Koeman to lash home an extra time winner.

Marseille’s early ‘90s kits have long been an object of desire for collectors, and their Champions League winner was one of the best. The white shirt was finished with adidas’ three stripes in light blue, wrapping round and appearing on the right shoulder and left shorts. Panasonic’s sponsor logo and the Marseille crest also arrived in the same light blue tone.

One of the all-time great young teams – van der Sar was 25, Davids was 22 and Seedorf just 19 – won the Champions League in one of the all-time great kits. The final was won by an 18-year-old Patrick Kluivert, while Ajax replaced their red and white with a navy blue shirt covered in an intricate red pattern. The whole thing was finished with a tasteful red collar. 

Ajax reached the final again the next season – this time back in red and white – but were defeated by Juventus. The Italians also won the kit battle, wearing a blue and yellow kit in place of black and white stripes. While the colour combination was a winner, the badge placement (inside the V-neck, somehow) never really caught on.

Borussia Dortmund had worn a string of strong kits in the 1990s – including a design since referenced by Balenciaga – and their Champions League-winning shirt was no different. Back then the club wore a neon yellow, rather than today’s warmer shade, and the shirt was finished off with a black section across the top and, in a nice touch, a single black stripe across the midriff.

Two years after losing in Istanbul, Liverpool and AC Milan met again in the Champions League final. Milan ended up winning the tie while wearing an away shirt that mixed in their home colours with a white base. The red and black was nodded to through the shirt’s trim and sleeve stripes. The enduring image of the shirt, though, will be Kaka ripping it off to dedicate himself to Jesus.

Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona – the team of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and, briefly, Thierry Henry – made light work of Manchester United in 2009. That season, the club were wearing a kit that replaced their traditional Blaugrana stripes with a simple half-and-half design. One side came in red, the other in blue. The kit was clearly a success, as Barcelona took home the treble in their split shirts.

Right in the middle of Real Madrid’s most recent dominant period – four Champions Leagues in five years – was the only year they didn’t wear white. For the Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired win over Juventus, Madrid stepped out in an all-purple shirt complete with white details and logos. A clean design for the club’s 12th title.