The return of a third kit in the Champions League final

PSG-Inter will be the first Champions League final since 2017 where both teams won't wear their respective Home jerseys. The last time this happened was in the final won by Real Madrid against Juventus 4-1: that night in Cardiff, the Merengues wore their purple away kit. Since then, all the teams reaching the final have always worn their Home jersey. A streak of seven consecutive finals now broken due to the color clash between PSG and Inter's club colors. As a result, an away kit was required, but what's particularly curious is that Inter, the team technically playing away on Saturday night at the Allianz Arena in Munich, decided not to wear their white second kit and instead opted for the yellow third kit for superstitious reasons. This decision, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, came directly from the Nerazzurri players.

However, this won't be the first time that Inter plays a European final wearing the third kit. We need to go back to 1998, during the UEFA Cup final won 3-0 against Lazio. That night in Paris, Ronaldo and his teammates took the field at the Parc des Princes wearing the iconic horizontal grey striped kit with blue trims and yellow details, used exclusively in the tournament and never in the league, Umbro’s final bow before Inter’s switch to Nike. More broadly, Inter has played only one Champions League final in an away jersey, in 1965 when a goal by Jair helped Helenio Herrera's side defeat Benfica.

Away Kits: Between Victories and Defeats

In more recent history, there’s an even more surprising case: a Champions League final where both teams wore their away kits. This happened in the 2000 edition, when Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, wearing a total black kit with gold details, defeated Valencia 3-0, who were dressed in an orange kit made by Luanvì. It was a remake of the 1992 final at Wembley, with Barcelona in orange and Sampdoria in white.

In general, white – the most common color for away jerseys, is a symbol of elegance and therefore frequently associated with the Champions League final, the most prestigious event of the football season. AC Milan, for example, built a tradition around it, wearing the white away kit in five of their seven victories and in eight out of the 11 Champions League finals they've played. On the flip side, Manchester United lost their last two Champions League finals while wearing white away kits, just like Arsenal, who lost the only Champions League final they reached in 2005 against Barcelona while wearing a yellow away kit.

The Only "Precedent"

Looking further back, only one other team has ever played a Champions League final wearing a third kit: Bayern Munich. That happened in the 1999 final at Camp Nou against Manchester United. A match remembered for how the Red Devils turned the score from 0-1 to 2-1 in injury time with two goals from corner plays, and for Sir Alex Ferguson’s now-legendary quote: "Football, bloody hell".

Back to aesthetics, the kit in question was a silver jersey with maroon inserts and a navy-blue collar, featuring the soft, rounded shapes typical of '90s designs. A historic jersey, which technically wasn't a true third kit as it was produced and used exclusively for Champions League nights. What’s surprising is that despite the proliferation of third and fourth kits, this remained, for 25 years, the only instance of a third kit being worn in a Champions League final.

Out of respect for the fans, tradition, and simply for practical reasons, teams have tried to stick with their Home jerseys as much as possible for this event. Inter’s decision is unlikely to start a new trend, but in the coming years, we may see more Champions League finals where a team, unable to use their home kit, opts to wear their third kit or a special kit designed specifically for the occasion rather than their away jersey.