Akanji kept a clean sheet against Inter last night in Manchester City's opening game of their Champions League campaign
(Image credit: Getty)
Manchester City debuted their highly anticipated special edition European shirt in Wednesday night's 0-0 draw with Inter to a varying reception from fans.
The Oasis-inspired strip was announced last week and was met with plenty of excitement, breaking records for merchandise sales in the days following the shirt's launch. The release featured plenty of easter eggs, too, for fans for the band, with Manuel Akanji featuring in the kit's release photos.
It appears, however, that the City players have found difficulty in adjusting to a new strip as Akanji revealed following Wednesday's stalemate.
Akanji in the Puma Manchester City fourth kit for 2024/25 (Image credit: Manchester City)
With the game still goalless, City maintained a healthy share of possession, suffocating the Italian champions in their own half as they searched for an elusive opener.
However, the pressure was quickly relieved after the usually reliable Akanji hilariously misplaced a pass, firing the ball towards the linesman under no pressure with teammates bemused around him.
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Speaking to beIN Sports after the game, the Swiss defender revealed he mistook the linesman for teammate Bernardo Silva due to the similarity in shirt colours thanks to the City strip's beige tone clashing with the official's yellow strip.
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"I like it a lot," he said. "I'd seen it already before I was at the shooting when we did itfor Puma. One action I got confused with the referee on the sideline, I thought it was Bernardo [Silva] so I passed the ball to him.
Manchester City struggled to break down Inter Milan (Image credit: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
"But otherwise I like the kit a lot and I'm looking forward to playing more in it."
Akanji joined the Cityzens from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, quickly proving he was more than just a squad player as he stamped his authority on the side in the 2022-23 treble-winning campaign.
The Swiss international has now made over 100 appearances under Pep Guardiola, lifting the Premier League title in each of his opening two campaigns as a City player.
James Ridge is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He recently spent time with The United Stand as an online news editor and has covered the beautiful game from England’s eighth tier all the way to the Premier League.
