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What is the story?
Croatia have mocked Barcelona’s new blue and maroon block designed, Croatia lookalike shirt. The Catalan giants have officially presented their new kit for the 2019-20 season, which will not feature the vertical stripes of blue and red for the second time in their history.
After finding similarities in the shirt design, Croatia’s official Twitter handle have responded by Twitting “Nice try” to Barcelona’s new strip.
In case you didn’t know…
Barcelona will have their first block design shirt first time in their history to pay homage to the characteristic blocks of the Eixample district in the city of Barcelona, home to some of the most symbolic building designed by famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí.
Barcelona’s new design have cost a lot of mixed reactions from the supporters as some of them are really furious because of the absence of vertical strips. This was not the first time Barcelona have ditched their trademark vertical strips. A lot of controversy was created back in 2015, when the club opted for a horizontal type of strips instead of a vertical one.
However, several Barcelona superstars have come out and defended the idea of the checkerboard design Barcelona shirt.
"The kit is something new and exciting," Gerard Piqué said to the club's official media channels as quoted by Marca.
“It might be different but it is 100 per cent Barcelona, and it is even better that the design represents the bond the club has with the supporters and the people who are driving the city forward," he added.
Barcelona goalkeeper, Marc-André ter Stegen has also publicly supported the idea of new kind of design.
"I like it a lot, I hope the fans do as well," the German said on Barça TV as quoted by SPORT.
“Barça hope the shirt will help us win titles and be a part of our success next season," he added.
The heart of the matter…
Croatia’s Twitter handle humorously responded just after Barcelona unveiled their official 2018-19 kit. The Tweet quoted:
“Nice try, Barcelona, but you can't beat red-and-white checkers."
Few minutes later they Twitted again regarding Barcelona’s new kit, but this time on, they have refereed to their Croatian Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitić.
What’s Next?
Barcelona will play their first pre-season friendly against Chelsea on 23rd of July.
