Why did Inter wear light blue shorts again? The kit clash with Feyenoord produced an unusual combination, but one with several precedents in the Nerazzurri’s history

Last night, in the 3-0 away win over Feyenoord, Inter played in a combination the first team had never worn this season: grey Third shirt, light-blue shorts and socks. The spoiler had arrived a few hours earlier, when the Nerazzurri’s Youth League side wore the same combination in Rotterdam that afternoon. It was a colour alternative made available to the club by Nike to solve the visual contrast issues with the home side, who were wearing black shorts and socks.

The unusual combination was part of an already distinctive look for Cristian Chivu’s team. In addition to the absence of the Betsson.sport logo from the chest – in order to comply with Dutch restrictions on gambling-related sponsorships, a scene we had already seen in Madrid a few weeks earlier – last night also marked the debut of the alternative font developed by Nike for Champions League matches. The combination of these three details produced the unusual kit Inter wore at “De Kuip”, which will probably remain a one-off this season despite having a few historical precedents.

Inter and other clubs’ alternative colour combinations

The colour chosen for last night’s shorts in Rotterdam is already featured on the Third shirt. It is Blue Spark, the shade used by Inter and Nike in the official release to describe the stripe beneath the broad horizontal black band across the chest, which also appears around the edge of the collar. In Rotterdam, the light blue was extended to the shorts and socks, replacing the black used in the original Third kit combination. The shirt, meanwhile, remained the one unveiled by the Nerazzurri on 14 September and worn that same evening against Udinese at San Siro: an Iron Ore grey base, a tonal jacquard pattern and Speed Yellow details.

These solutions expand the possible combinations of the kits unveiled at the beginning of the season, allowing clubs to deal with potential kit clashes, as happened last night. Article 9 of the UEFA Equipment Regulations states that a team may be required to combine shirts, shorts and socks from different approved kits in order to replace the clashing elements and ensure sufficient visual contrast with their opponents.

The same thing happened to Manchester United in November 2023, during their Champions League trip to Galatasaray. On that occasion, adidas paired the white Third shirt with red shorts, matching the colour of the jersey’s details and avoiding a clash with the white shorts worn by the Turkish side. Once again, the Under-19 team had previewed the combination during the afternoon’s Youth League match.

In other situations, however, the available options are not enough even when the shorts are changed. When Barcelona faced PSG last month, the Catalan club had to bring back the orange Third kit from the previous season, as all three of its 2026/27 kits were considered incompatible with the Parisians’ strip and the fourth had yet to be officially unveiled. The orange shirt had been registered in September as an emergency option, and this was far from unprecedented for LA LIGA and the Blaugrana, who had already reused their green 2024/25 kit in August 2025 because no suitable alternatives were available.

Inter’s previous examples

The closest recent precedent for shorts similar to those worn in Rotterdam last night came during Inter’s trip to Torino in October 2023. That afternoon, the Granata took to the pitch in white shorts, leaving Inter and Nike needing an alternative to the same-coloured pair designed for the Away kit. Simone Inzaghi’s team therefore wore the white Away shirt with a black-and-blue diagonal stripe, paired with light-blue shorts featuring white numbers and Swooshes and the white socks from the second kit. Nike opted for a light-blue design that picked up some of the shirt’s details, extending the colour of the stripe to the lower half of the kit. Just as happened last night with Blue Spark.

Another solution had been seen in Turin just a few months earlier, again to avoid a clash with the white shorts worn by the Granata. On the final matchday of the 2022/23 Serie A season, the white Away shirt was paired with navy-blue shorts and socks, in a much darker shade than the light blue used the following October. That match also marked the debut of Paramount+ on the shirt, following the agreement covering the final two games of the season.

Light blue in Inter’s Home kit

While all the examples described above were emergency measures, there was a period when light-blue shorts were part of Inter’s Home kit. This happened for three consecutive seasons, from 1980 to 1983, alongside socks in the same colour. The combination can be seen in photographs of Altobelli, Beccalossi, Oriali and a very young Bergomi: a version of the Home kit in which the light blue of the stripes extended across the entire lower half, replacing the customary black.

During the first of those seasons, PUMA was still supplying Inter’s kits, which featured the Scudetto won in 1979/80 on the chest. From the following season, the supplier was Mec Sport and the sponsor was Inno-Hit, later replaced by Misura. These were years in which kit suppliers and sponsors changed on the Nerazzurri shirt, but the shorts remained light blue.

Even an exceptional solution like the one worn in Rotterdam therefore brought back a combination belonging to the club’s historical archive. From 1983/84, however, black shorts returned for good. Light blue would only reappear as part of kits designed entirely around that colour, such as the Nike Third kit from 2014/15. On that occasion, the shirt, shorts and socks were all light blue, with a lighter shade on the front and a darker one on the back.