The choice of colour can become a trademark. Diego Simeone, twice losing finalist with Atlético de Madrid in 2014 and 2016, dresses head to toe in black. It brought him good results earlier on his career and has now become a superstitious selection. There are rare photos of the Argentine in a white shirt, but nothing in the past decade. He is the Johnny Cash of the Champions League.
So, it’s a straight shoot-out between designer suits and gaudy sports garb. Or is it? Football and fashion are complicated worlds that evolve quickly; when you think you are on top of it, something new arrives. Over the past decade a third dress code has appeared: sports casual. José Mourinho dipped in and out of it in his spell at Real Madrid, while Pep Guardiola has made it his own since leaving Barcelona. Thomas Tuchel is the current king by dint of his Champions League triumph in the 2021 final in tailored trousers, a thin jumper and sleek bodywarmer, all in navy blue. Indeed, Tuchel has even appeared in a fashion shoot for ZeitMagazin Mann.
This is the choice of the younger manager and you could wear it to a high-power meeting or swanky big city bar. Hansi Flick was another fine example of this style when his Bayern conquered Europe in 2019/20. Flick’s successor Julian Nagelsmann has recently joined this movement after a few loud experiments in the recent past. This livery is the future because top coaches are getting younger and don’t want to dress like fuddy duddies or appear slobby. They come across as dynamic and cosmopolitan in their threads made from the highest quality materials.
There is another part of your image that is down to genetics rather than gliding around the best boutiques, and that’s facial hair. Only Klopp and Guardiola have taken the title with a beard, and the Catalan’s was more of an 1980s designer stubble than anything else. But don’t throw away that razor just yet: moustaches fare better, particularly those of an Iberian nature. José Villalonga (1956, 1957), Artur Jorge (1987), Guus Hiddink (1988) and the ’tache daddy Vicente del Bosque (2000 and 2002) all took the top prize while keeping their top lips warm. Ever the rebel, Rijkaard, who sported a well-groomed moustache as a player, masterminded Barça’s 2006 triumph from the bench with a face as smooth as his team’s passing. He is nothing if not unpredictable.
The lines of demarcation are clear, and the tracksuit appears most at risk of extinction from the Champions League winner’s podium. It’s tough to predict the next flag bearer after Klopp. Naturally, the thing that aids victory most of all, which doesn’t fit in your wardrobe, is a great team.
