Mysterious Situation: Benfica Never Used Third Kit During 2022-23 Season

Jun 22, 2023

by Martim

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Benfica's Third Kit Usage: Benfica's main team did not use their Third kit during the entire 2022-23 season, despite playing in multiple competitions.
Unusual Practice: This is atypical, as most teams with a Third kit use it at least once for marketing or to avoid kit clashes.
Benfica Kit Stats: The first team wore their Home kit 54 times and the Away kit 6 times, whilst the third kit was not worn at all by the first team

During the 2022-23 season, Benfica never used their Third kit - at least not the main team - despite having played in 4 different competitions and friendly games.

This is highly unusual, except when a team does not possess a Third kit. Normally less used than the Home and Away options, the Third jersey is used in situations where there is a kit clash either by using the Home or Away.

Nowadays, in the consumerism era, teams that have a Third kit at least use it once, for marketing purposes or to satisfy the fans who liked the design and bought it. However, in the past, teams simply used much more the Home and Away. An example of this is the Juventus 1995-96 Kappa Third Kit, a beautiful design but never used in a competitive match.

BENFICA 2022-23 KIT CHART:

Benfica in 60 games all season wore their Home option an astounding 54 games, only wearing the Away option 6 times. Of those 6 times, 4 were for the league, 1 for the Champions League and 1 for the League Cup.

Only their B-team, which plays in the second division, used the kit a couple of times and probably their academy teams and women's team.

Why did this happen? Well, it's impossible to know for sure. Lack of supply could be the cause but, in that case, the little quantity that existed would have been used by the first team. The disapproval of fans regarding the design could also be a reason, but several fans have bought the kit so that seems unlikely.

Do you know why? Do you like the design? Let us know below.