THE VITALS:

Team: Real Madrid

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2017-18 (Used during the 2017 UEFA Super Cup Match and the 2017-18 La Liga season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This shirt comes to you in excellent condition with the decal, embroidery, material and respective crests are in nothing short of great standing.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19 inches

Shirt Length: 26.5 inches 

DESCRIPTION:

Adidas’ interesting choice of teal/cyan would also be the colour of choice used to supplement the black Real Madrid away strip for their 2017-18 season. The similarities with the home ensemble end there however, as a hoop neck collar was employed instead of the v-neck collar, while the Adidas 3-stripes were placed on the side panels as they were on the home shirt the previous season. Following suit from the change strips of the past three seasons - the colours of the crest would be remixed to match the shirt colours. This shirt would debut in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup match as Real Madrid successfully defended the title against Manchester United on 8^th August 2017 – winning 2-1 in the Skopje showcase. This shirt would also feature in the wins over: Real Sociedad, Leganes and Bayern Munich in the 1^st Leg of their Champions League semi-final. This season also holds the distinction of being the last to be for the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo at the club before he moved to Juventus in the summer of 2018.

THE SEASON:

Real Madrid would reach the most incredible of heights at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season; ending a 4 season wait for La Liga, retaining the FIFA Club World Club, winning the UEFA Super Cup and most impressively, they would successfully defend the UEFA Champions League when they defeated Juventus. As expected, the likes of: Pepe, James Rodriguez, Fabio Coentrao, Alvaro Morata and Danilo all parted ways with the club, meanwhile an eye was kept on the future with Dani Ceballos, Theo Hernandez, Achraf Hakimi, Jesus Vallejo, Marco Llorente and Borja Mayoral all coming in aged 20 or under.

Another monster of a calendar began on August 8^th 2017 when Real Madrid successfully defended the UEFA Super Cup following a 2-1 win over Manchester United in Skopje. Any critics of Zinedine Zidane and his side would have surely been blown away as they laid a statement of intent in the Supercopa de Espana; beating Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate to win the title for the first time since 2012! Not even a Sergio Ramos red card could dampen the mood as they got La Liga off to a winning start; beating Deportivo La Coruna 3-0 at La Riazor. Cracks would begin to show however not too long after, and after just 5 games, their La Liga title defence was looking in jeopardy as they sat 7 points adrift of leaders Barcelona.

A run of 7 wins in 8 in all competitions got the wheels moving again, but a stunning defeat away to newly promoted Girona on October 29^th allowed Atletico Madrid to move level with them on 20 points after 10 games. As the FIFA Club World Cup approached; Real would successfully navigate the Group Stage of the Champions League, however, a 2^nd place finish would give them the unenviable task of playing Paris Saint Germain in the Last 16, meanwhile in the league, they’d ready themselves for the visit of Barcelona on December 23rd. Before then, the club would win their 5^th title of 2017 as they were crowned as FIFA Club World Cup champions for the 2^nd successive season on December 16^th!

Unfortunately, on their return on home soil 7 days later, they would fall to Barcelona to all but see their defence end. The New Year wouldn’t fare much better for their form either as they now in a battle just to finish in 2^nd place, while also suffering an ignominious exit from the Copa del Rey. The Champions League would still be there however, and Cristiano Ronaldo now starting hit his stride after a lukewarm first half of the season, turned in a brace as Real saw off PSG 3-1 at the Bernabeu on February 14th.

They’d finish the job on March 6^th; beating the French side 2-1 at the Parc de Princes to set up a rematch of their Champions League final with Juventus, and by now, ‘Los Blancos’ were red-hot; winning 13 games out 16 since January 18th, and that was form totally abundant as the swept Juve aside 3-0 at the Juventus Stadium on April 3rd! Even more famous than the result, would be Cristiano Ronaldo’s otherworldly overhead kick goal that even drew the applause of a flabbergasted home support. Little did they foresee the 2^nd Leg 8 days later however, where Juve would lead 3-0 until stoppage time, where a Lucas Vasquez won a contentious penalty, that Ronaldo lashed home to send Real Madrid through to an 8^th successive Champions League semi-final!

Their opponents in the semi-final would be a familiar adversary: Bayern Munich. Real Madrid would once again pull off another incredible away win; defeat Bayern at the Allianz 2-1 in the first leg on April 25^th! May 6^th would turn out to be a seminal moment in football history, as it was the last ever Messi vs Ronaldo ‘El Clasico’ Fittingly, the game would end 2-2 with both men scoring in the contest. With a 3^rd place finish looking more and more likely; only winning the Champions League could save the season. They would have to utilise all of their reserves as they held Bayern to a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu; thus reaching the European Cup final for a 3^rd season in a row!

A La Liga season that couldn’t end soon enough for the former champions ended with a 2-2 draw with Villarreal; thus relegating them to a 3^rd place finish for the first time since 2004. The showdown with Liverpool took place on May 26^th and after a tense goalless first half, Karim Benzema got his long awaited goal in a Champions League final, however, it was Gareth Bale who proved himself the saviour; his 2 incredible goals, including a bicycle kick of his own, earnt Real a 3-1 win over Liverpool and an unprecedented 2^nd successive Champions League title defence! Little would anyone know however, that was would be both Cristiano Ronaldo’s last game in a Real Madrid shirt and Zinedine Zidane’s last game in charge before stepping down…    

The notable players that season were:

Cristiano Ronaldo, Borja Mayoral, Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vasquez, Gareth Bale, Marcos Llorente, Isco, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Mateo Kovacic, Dani Ceballos, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Jesus Valejo, Achraf Hakimi, Raphael Varane, Theo Hernandez, Keylor Navas, Kiko Casilla