Barcelona and their fans have had to wait to see what the club's 2024-25 away kit will look like, despite having already played two away games in LaLiga this season.
In fact, the team wore last season's fourth yellow alternate jersey for its first game under new manager Hansi Flick, a 2-1 win at Valencia on August 17, before wearing its new half-and-half home jersey in each of its other three matches.
But, before the Catalan derby on September 15 in Girona (Stream it LIVE at 12:15 p.m. ET on ESPN+), Barça has finally delivered a new shirt that was worth the wait.
It is only the fourth black away shirt the club has owned, with previous incarnations coming in 2011-12, 2013-14 and most recently in 2020-21, when Barca adopted a gold-tinged design that proved a huge hit with fans.
This year's version has a minimalist design, with the club crest and Nike logo in black and with an iridescent blue and red sheen to increase the shirt's stealth factor tenfold. blaugrana Asymmetrical stripes are then added to the flanks of the torso.
As part of Barça's 125th anniversary celebrations, the club's custom anniversary logo has also been printed on the inside of the shirt, just below the back of the collar.
However, while the kit certainly ranks high for its stealthy style, the black jerseys have not been harbingers of winning the biggest prizes.
In 2011-12, Barca won four Copa del Reys, a Spanish Super Cup, a European Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup in Pep Guardiola’s final season as manager. Tata Martino won another Spanish Super Cup in 2013-14 (in a season in which Barca also lost the league title to Atletico Madrid on the final day of the campaign) before Ronald Koeman added another Copa del Rey to his trophy cabinet in 2020-21, the Dutchman’s only full season in charge at Camp Nou.
That means Barça have not won a single league or Champions League title in any of the seasons they have worn the black shirt. Maybe fourth time's the charm?
