THE VITALS:

Team: Barcelona

Brand: Nike

Era: 2000-01 (Used for the 2000-01 La Liga season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This shirt still stands in very good condition in spite of its years, with the territory however, does come some signs of wear and bobbling.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19 inches

Shirt Length: 26.5 inches 

Made in the 2000-01 season mould of the Nike’s Dri-Fit series; please be mindful of the length of the shirt which is quite short comparatively speaking.

DESCRIPTION:

After the previous season’s special half and half strip, Nike restored stripes to the Barcelona shirt ahead of the 2000-01 seaon. Unlike previous iterations during the Nike and Barcelona relationship, the blue utilised is more akin to purple than it is navy. Retained from the previous season’s shirt however was the collar, the club crest and Nike swoosh being in the centre of the shirt, and the 1899-1999 centenary patch on the sleeve; and with the majority colour of the shirt being red; this shirt is the quintessential upgrade of the 1998-99 shirt.

THE SEASON:

After falling in their defence of the La Liga title by 5 points in the previous season; Louis Van Gaal parted ways with the club, and former Real Betis coach: Lorenzo Serra Ferrer was appointed as the new head coach. He would have to prepare for the new season without Luis Figo, who had just moved on to Real Madrid in what was the world’s most expensive ever transfer, following his €60 million release clause being evoked. A very able replacement was sourced in the form of Marc Overmars, he was joined at the Camp Nou with his Arsenal team-mate: Emmanuel Petit, meanwhile Alfonso and Gerard were also acquired from Real Betis and Valencia respectively. 4 wins from their opening 6 La Liga games got them to what would be a season high of 3^rd place; from there however, consistency would be hard to come by, and by December 2000, Barca would be relegated to the UEFA Cup from the Champions League, there would be however, an unbeaten run in the league of 10 games. Carles Rexach would replace Ferrer in April 2001, following Barcelona’s UEFA Cup semi-final elimination at the hands of Liverpool, and the club legend would eventually steer Barcelona to a 4^th place finish with a thrilling 3-2 win over Valencia on the final day of the season; the game famous for Rivaldo’s hat-trick that condemned Valencia to a 5^th place finish. This season would also be notable for being the last for Josep (Pep) Guardiola as a Barcelona player.

The notable players that season were:

Patrick Kluivert, Jari Litmanen, Alfonso, Dani Garcia, Rivaldo, Marc Overmars, Gerard, Luis Enrique, Boudewijn Zenden, Simao Sabrosa, Gabri Garcia, Ivan De La Pena, Phillip Cocu, Xavi, Josep Guardiola, Frank de Boer, Winston Bogarde, Sergi, Abelardo, Michael Reiziger, Carles Puyol, Pepe Reina, Richard Dutruel, Francesc Arnau