When Barcelona left Meyba for Kappa in 1992, the headline takeaway was the addition of white trim to the blaugrana stripes (right), but the deal also included another innovation.
For the first time, Barça were defending European champions and the plan was that, once they advanced to the group stages of the renamed Champions League, they would show off a new kit, intended solely for non-domestic games.
Things didn’t work out, though, as CSKA Moscow eliminated Barcelona in the second round. However, the ‘international’ kit (left) would be seen in 1992-93 as Barça lost out to São Paulo in the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo in December.
Featuring a red central stripe rather than the unusual style on the home kit and a lace-up neck, the new strip also featured striped socks. It would come to greater prominence in 1993-94 as Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’ made it to the Champions League final only to lose 4-0 to Milan.
While most big teams were on two-year kit cycles by this stage, Barcelona retained their home kit for a third season in 1994-95 and the European kit was also kept, albeit with some changes brought about due to Uefa clamping down on sponsorship rules. Though it looked similar from a distance, gone were the Kappa logos from the fabric as well on the taping down the sleeves and shorts legs (right).
Emerging from the group stages – where they beat Manchester United 4-0, with United having to wear a modified version of their black change strip for similar reasons – Barça were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals and the first leg, at the Camp Nou on March 1, brought one last variant to the European kit.
Instead of the laced neck, it now featured one in the same style as the home, albeit recoloured to fit the European strip (left). The first leg finished in a 1-1 draw and, though Barcelona took the lead in the second leg in Paris, the hosts came back to win 2-1, meaning that we never found out if the alteration to the kit was permanent or a true one-off.
