Barcelona’s newest shirt doesn’t just stand out on the pitch, it glows with history. When the team steps out in a head-to-toe shade of neon orange this season, memories of 2009 will come rushing back. That was the year Pep Guardiola‘s side, led by Lionel Messi, completed the sextuple and cemented themselves as one of the greatest teams in football history.
The 2025/26 third kit from Nike revives that look with a contemporary twist. Branded “Bright Mango,” it pairs with midnight navy trim across the collar and nameplate. The shirt’s curved, geometric lines are lifted from Nike’s early 2000s Total 90 range, a detail that has delighted fans who remember that era’s bold design language. The result is a kit that feels retro and futuristic at the same time.
Why orange matters again
For Barcelona, orange is more than a color choice. It’s shorthand for triumph. Supporters still remember Messi’s extra-time chest goal in the Club World Cup final against Estudiantes, the strike that sealed the club’s clean sweep of six trophies. To see that hue return now, with a new generation led by teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal, is to feel continuity between eras.
The campaign around the kit is titled Shaping the Future, and it leans heavily into the idea of fans as protagonists. Promo videos blend archival clips from 2009 with present-day supporters in the stands. The message is clear: Barcelona’s greatest victories have always been fueled by the energy of its people.
Reaction online has been lively. On social media, many praised the bold design, some calling it “Nike cooked with this one.” Others simply posted “take my money” alongside the official launch images. Nostalgia has softened most of the usual kit-release grumbling, with even skeptics admitting it looks striking under stadium lights.
Commercially, the kit has landed well. Authentic versions start around $115 for fans.
Compared to Barcelona’s other kits this season, the third feels the most daring. The home shirt stays traditional with red and blue stripes given a purplish gradient, while the away is a golden tribute to Kobe Bryant that links basketball and football culture. The third is different. It exudes ambition by looking back at a moment when Barcelona truly ruled the world, reminding today’s squad what’s possible.
The first matchday brought a small wrinkle when league regulations forced the team to wear last year’s mint green third kit instead. Fans joked the sextuple tribute “needed extra time, just like that 2009 final.” Once it finally debuts on the pitch, expect the orange to blaze across social feeds again.
Barcelona has a long tradition of experimenting with color for its alternates, from fluorescent orange in 2005/06 to the pink map-print kit of 2018/19. But this year’s third shirt feels different. It doesn’t just chase attention. It draws a straight line between past and present, between Messi’s chest-high winner and the next generation still chasing their first Champions League nights.
