Real Madrid Third Kit 2017/18: The First Fan-Designed Shirt

Meet Jesús Serrano, the man who won the adidas Creator Studio project for Real Madrid. Jesús submitted four designs himself, and his favorite beat out hundreds of other entries. The winner was chosen by a panel of the club's most iconic former players.

Adidas ran the contest to design the 2017/18 third shirt. Jesús's winning design is a sky blue shirt with a modern, digital look, a pixelated pattern with a square graphic in each corner. According to the designer, the jersey is based on Real Madrid's 1996/97 third shirt, which had similar corner graphics. That older shirt was purple and white, but Jesús wanted to keep things simpler this time. He didn't want the shirt to stand out too much because of clashing colors, so he chose dark blue tones for the pattern instead, shades that blend smoothly into the sky blue jersey.

This shirt also had its moment earlier in the season, in the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona. Real Madrid wore it for the first leg at Camp Nou, and they crushed their rivals 5-1 on aggregate.

That first leg had everything. Real Madrid led 0-1 when Ronaldo came on as a substitute in the 57th minute. His newly permed "noodle hair" bouncing under the Camp Nou lights, a look that would define his 2017/18 season almost as much as his goals did. Messi pulled Barcelona level from the penalty spot, making it 1-1. Then Ronaldo struck. He nutmegged Piqué right at the edge of the box and curled the ball into the top corner, 1-2. He celebrated by ripping off his shirt and holding it up to the fans, an iconic celebration, but the referee booked him for it. In the 81st minute, Ronaldo went down in the box, and the referee judged it a dive, a debatable call, and showed him a second yellow card, sending him off with red. Real Madrid didn't need him anymore. Marco Asensio sealed the win with a stunning strike from outside the box that dipped in just under the crossbar, making it 1-3.

In the second leg back at the Bernabéu, Asensio and Benzema both scored again, and Real Madrid finished the job: 5-1 on aggregate, and their tenth Spanish Super Cup.

That season, Real Madrid made history in the Champions League. They won the trophy for the third year in a row, something no club had done before since the competition took its current format. Domestically, things were far less glorious. Real Madrid finished third in La Liga, well behind champions Barcelona and rivals Atlético Madrid. But the focus on Europe paid off.

This shirt had its moment on the competition's biggest stage. In the quarter-final against Juventus, Real Madrid wore this light blue third shirt away in Turin because their usual away kit clashed with Juventus's black and white home colors. That night, Cristiano Ronaldo scored one of the most famous goals in the tournament's history: a bicycle kick so good that even the Juventus fans stood up to applaud. Real Madrid won 3-0.

The final was played in Kyiv against Liverpool. Karim Benzema opened the scoring after a huge blunder by Liverpool keeper Loris Karius. Liverpool hit back through Sadio Mané to make it 1-1. Then Gareth Bale, brought on as a substitute, produced one of the greatest goals in final history: a bicycle kick into the top corner. Late in the game, Karius fumbled again, spilling a long-range effort from Bale into his own net, sealing the win 3-1. Real Madrid lifted the trophy for the third straight year. Then, right at the peak of his success, manager Zinedine Zidane surprised everyone by announcing he was stepping down.

How do you know if you have a real or fake shirt from this season? Here are a few ways to check, so you can be sure it's genuine.

Official adidas shirts have a small authenticity label under the collar. This label shows a production date, an article number, and a size code. The production date is especially useful: it should match the 2017/18 season, not an earlier or later one. Next, search the article number on Google Images. That should only show this exact light blue Real Madrid third shirt. If nothing comes up, or a completely different shirt shows up, take that as a warning sign.

Next, look at the adidas logo on the left chest. The three stripes should be embroidered or heat pressed, with sharp, even edges and equal spacing between them. On fake shirts, the stripes are often crooked or slightly misaligned.

Then feel the fabric. A real replica is made from adidas' Climacool material: light and moisture wicking. Check the fabric print under the collar or on the lower right of the shirt front, it should say Climacool, not any other adidas fabric name. Fake shirts often feel thicker and stiffer, and they don't breathe the way the real shirt does.

The most reliable way to avoid a fake is to buy from a source that has already checked the shirt's authenticity. Avoid: Unknown third party sellers on general marketplaces with no return policy. Sellers who only accept cash, crypto, or untraceable payment methods. Listings using stock photos instead of photos of the actual shirt for sale. And any seller who can't provide provenance or authenticity details when asked.