The shirt that changed the history of Barça is back

Although there are still about nine months until its official launch, the first details about the FC Barcelona kit for the 2026/27 campaign are starting to come to light. Following the current trend of paying homage to the past, the model will recover the essence of that shirt from two decades ago, the same one worn by Ronaldinho, Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Eto’o, Puyol and even the current sporting director, Deco.

A blue sleeve and a claret sleeve

According to information published by the X account Memorabilia1899 —a specialist in Barça kits and merchandise—, the new shirt will be based on the one used during the team´s fourth season under the management of Frank Rijkaard. That campaign marked a turning point in the club´s history, being the first to include a sponsor on the chest: Unicef, a symbol of the charitable values of the blaugrana entity. The design will recover the traditional stripes, although with a slight shift, and the big novelty will be that each sleeve will have a different color, one blue and the other claret. For its part, the renowned specialized kit portal Footy Headlines has shared on its website three possible versions of how the new creation from Nike could look. Nevertheless, they clarify that these are merely illustrative mock-ups based on the available information.

The shirt of Messi´s Maradona-like goal

Although the 2006/07 season is not among the most remembered by the culé fans —as only one title out of six possible was won, the Supercopa de España—, that kit is associated with several memorable moments. It was with that shirt that Leo Messi scored his first hat-trick against Real Madrid in an exciting 3-3 at Camp Nou. It was also the one worn by Ronaldinho when he scored his famous bicycle kick goal against Villarreal, in another match that ended with the same result. However, the most indelible memory is that of Messi´s Maradona-like goal against Getafe in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey. In that play, the Argentine left behind the entire opposing defense before scoring, a move that still resonates in the memory of fans thanks to the legendary narration by Joaquim Maria Puyal, who, fascinated by the play, repeated over and over: "Messi faces the goal".