THE VITALS:

Team: Barcelona

Brand: Nike

Era: 2017-18 (Used for the 2017-18 La Liga season, the 2017 Supercopa De Espana matches, and the 2018 Copa del Rey Final)

Name/Number: Jordi Alba #18

CONDIION: EXCELLENT

This shirt comes to you in nothing short of excellent condition! The respective applications, club crest, vinyl sponsors and name and numbering are truly immaculate as is the shirt material itself!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: 13-15 Yrs (XL Boys)

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18 inches

Shirt Length: 24.5 inches

Made by Nike in their ‘Dri-Fit’ style which they introduced in 2017; please consider the disparity between the chest measurement and the shirt length.

DESCRIPTION:

Nike would go back to their unconventional drawing board ahead of the 2017-18 season, and not for the first time this decade, would they equip Barcelona with a fine design. Taking heed from the successful 2012-13 shirt; Nike would make the spiritual successor to that strip by imbuing ‘Los Cules’ with a navy back drop, and thin red stripes emanating from the centre; creating almost a hybrid between of the 2011-12 and aforementioned 2012-13 home shirt! In our opinion, the result is a fine shirt, and one that will live long in the memory of Barcelona fans. In another piece of trivia; this would also be the first shirt to emblazoned with the Rakuten sponsorship; taking over from the assorted Qatar based sponsors used throughout the decade. In another series of caveats; this would be the shirt synonymous with Barcelona’s incredible 37 game unbeaten run en route to wrestling the title back from Real Madrid, as well being the last season that the legendary Javier Mascherano and Andres Iniesta featured for the club!

THE SEASON:

After the disappointing 2016-17 season, and the consequent departure of Luis Enrique following 3 trophy laden seasons at the helm; Ernesto Valverde was entrusted with guiding club back to glory on the Spanish and European stage. His early days in the job would be dominated the biggest transfer in the history of the sport as Paris Saint Germain evoked Neymar’s €222 million minimum-fee release clause less than 3 weeks before the start of the 2017-18 La Liga season!

With Liverpool rejecting Barcelona’s advances for Phillipe Coutinho; Ousmane Dembele would be signed from Borussia Dortmund for €105 million, meanwhile, the signing of Paulinho from Guangzhou Evergrande for €40 was quite the controversial signing amongst Barcelona fans. Also joining the club, was Nelson Semedo and the returning Gerard Deulofeu.

An emotional home game with Real Betis raised the curtain for the recently disposed champions, and they would open the new season with a 2-0 win at Camp Nou, with the game coming just 3 days after tragic terrorist attacks that took place in Barcelona. Valverde’s Barcelona would win their next 7 games in a row to take lead in La Liga, before earning a late 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in their first visit to the Wanda Metropolitano. 6 wins and 2 draws later; they’d lead the way by 6 points ahead of the December 23^rd El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barcelona would leave Real Madrid some 14 points off the paces as they prevailed 3-0 in the capital, with most book makers already signing Barcelona off as champions. Atletico Madrid would emerge as their closest challengers and the two sides did battle at Camp Nou on March 4^th with just 5 points separating them. Lionel Messi’s 600^th career goal was enough to seal a 1-0 win, and then with 4 games to spare; Barcelona would officially be out of sight as they were mathematically crowned as 2017-18 La Liga champions!

They would reach 37 games in a row without loss before an incredible 5-4 defeat away against Levante in the penultimate game of the season robbed Barcelona the opportunity to become the first ever unbeaten La Liga champions in the 38 game season era! Nevertheless, ‘Los Cules’ would win the title with 93 points on the board and with a 14 point margin!

Barcelona would also win the Copa del Rey for a 4^th successive season; smashing Sevilla 5-0 in the April 21^st finale. While the UEFA Champions League saw Barcelona avenge their defeat to Juventus in the previous season, and eliminate Chelsea in the Last 16; they would be incredibly shocked by AS Roma in the quarter final as they surrendered a 4-1 1^st Leg lead to beaten 3-0 in Rome, and miss out on the semi-final by virtue of away goals!

Lastly, this would be the final season in a Barcelona shirt for club legend’s - Javier Mascherano and Andres Iniesta; with both stalwarts continuing their careers in Asia, meanwhile, the club would get their man – Phillipe Coutinho in January 2018; making him the 2^nd most expensive ever footballer when they parted way with €120 million for his services!

The notable players that season were:

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Ousmane Dembele, Paco Alcacer, Gerard Deulofeu, Phillipe Coutinho, Andres Iniesta, Sergi Roberto, Paulinho, Andre Gomes, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Denis Suarez, Aleix Vidal, Thomas Vermaelen, Samuel Umtiti, Javier Mascherano, Yerry Mina, Jordi Alba, Lucas Digne, Nelson Semedo, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen