After years of disappearing from football pitches across Europe, long-sleeved kits have been making a genuine comeback in recent years, but nobody expected it to hit quite like this.
AC Milan and Juventus both took to the pitch this weekend wearing special 4th kits, and in a twist straight out of the 90s, every single player was kitted out in long sleeves. Why everyone? Certainly, because no short-sleeve versions were even supplied.
If we look at images of previous matches of both teams, all players are wearing short sleeves (apparently, Adidas and Puma do not supply the teams with long-sleeve kits). Now, in the special-edition kit matches, all players are wearing long-sleeve kits. Several players, including Luka Modrić - clearly not a man who reads the retro kit memo - were spotted rolling their sleeves up.
Just ten years ago, there were hardly any players left wearing long-sleeve kits, but today there are hundreds of top players embracing the look again - though most of them probably had a choice in the matter. Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Havertz and others have been leading the long-sleeve revival, making it look elegant and intentional — unlike the full-squad-mandatory-sleeve situation that unfolded in Serie A.
Long Sleeves Have Never Been More Back
Both clubs lost their matches with their full long-sleeve squads.