For the start of the 2025/26 season, Nike manufactured, as usual, three kits for FC Barcelona, alternating the traditional blaugrana of the home shirt with two kits where pale ochre (second) and orange (third) predominate.
However, the culé team has had to repeat last year's kit, specifically their third shirt (lime green), for their first two LaLiga EA Sports matches, against Mallorca (0-3) and Levante (2-3).
In that sense, Nike has expressed its discontent, since the use of kits from the previous season directly affects the American brand's 'merchandising' and, therefore, the sale of its products and commercial agreements with Barça.
Similarly, the club is dissatisfied with the problems that the design of its new shirts is generating at the start of the season. The board had to prepare a batch of lime green shirts from last season, updating the LaLiga patch (Barcelona is the defending champion) and the squad numbers.
LaLiga's 'Kit Selector': Why does it cause problems for Nike and Barça?
Despite Nike's annoyance, the American multinational understands that the blaugrana club is not responsible for this fact, as LaLiga's new regulations when implementing the 'Kit Selector' for each match has been the cause of this setback for the club.
The objective of the 'Kit selector' is to select the colors of the kits that the teams will use before each match and prevent them from taking to the field with kits with similar tones that may generate contrast problems during TV and streaming broadcasts.
Through the application, the teams are given the go-ahead for the day of the match. In that sense, none of Barça's three shirts for the 25/26 season has passed the filters for the first two league games. And the club would have already made some complaints to the swoosh brand.
The culés had already played at Levante's ground wearing an orange shirt in 14/15, but this year the rule has changed. Against Mallorca, although the second shirt (ochre) was clearly contrasting with the 'vermillion' roll, the use of black shorts and socks in both uniforms forced Barcelona to 'recycle' the green kit from 24/25.
Nike could be forced to make adjustments to Barça's kits for 25/26
Similarly, against Levante, the dark color of the second culé kit prevented the debut of the kit belonging to the 'Black Mamba' collection. The solution, in the case of this kit, would be to change the color of the shorts and socks to an ochre tone identical to that of the shirt, maintaining details in black and violet.
It would not be the first time that Nike has prepared an 'emergency' change due to LaLiga regulations on Barça's kits. In 23/24, the club had to use garnet shorts against Cádiz to be able to keep the home kit on their visit to the Nuevo Mirandilla.
The same happened in the 'semis' of the 2023 Spanish Super Cup against Betis (2-2, Catalan victory on penalties). This year, in the case of the orange kit, only dark blue shorts are contemplated as an alternative, an adjustment that will help little in the case of visiting teams such as Atlético de Madrid, Athletic Club, Osasuna or Girona.
Real Madrid has also 'suffered' the 'Kit Selector' in 25/26
Real Madrid, for its part, could not use any of its away shirts against Real Oviedo because one is royal blue and the other is black, so the 'Casa Blanca', to avoid using an old uniform, opted to combine its white home shirt with the black shorts of its second kit for 25/26.
In this way, FC Barcelona will be able to debut one of its official shirts for this season (the first) against Rayo Vallecano, thanks to the predominant white in the Madrid team's uniform contrasting without problems with the lifelong blaugrana of the Catalan team.