THE VITALS:

Team: Real Madrid

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2001-02 (Used for the 2^nd Leg of the 2001 Supercopa de Esapana and for the 2001-02 La Liga season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: GOOD

In the year of its 20 year birthday; this shirt comes to you still in good condition! The material shows a very respectable amount of wear for its age however the the sponsor has worn off leaving just a faint silhouette of its former glory.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: 34/36

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20 inches

Shirt Length: 27 inches

Made by Adidas in their range of shirts which they introduced in 2001; although this is supposed to be akin an extra small today, the dimensions are probably better suited to a conventional size small.

DESCRIPTION:

Ahead of their centenary season, Adidas would craft a fine traditionalists home strip for Real Madrid to usher them into the 2001-02 season! With Teka being dropped as the club’s shirt sponsor, Real Madrid would keep it all in-house, with Realmadrid.com being used as the domestic shirt sponsor, while there would be no shirt sponsor at all for the European edition. After black and purple and amber and even silver had been used by Adidas for ‘Los Blancos’ home shirts since they took on the reins in 1998; this shirt was strictly white with blue being used for the 3-stripes and Adidas embroidery only – creating a wonderful homage to the incredible and illustrious history of Real Madrid Club de Futbol in their 100^th anniversary! This shirt would be synonymous with an incredible season that began with the club setting a new world transfer record when they signed Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for €72 million! This was the season that could have ended in a quadruple, in the end; Real Madrid would have to settle for winning a record 9^th UEFA Champions League title and delivering the Supercopa de Espana, while finish as runners-up in the Copa del Rey and 3^rd in La Liga! This would also be the last Real Madrid home shirt to be worn be likes of: Ivan Campo, Aitor Karanka and Savio!

THE SEASON:

Despite setting a world transfer record following the signing of Luis Figo in 2000 and winning ending a 4 year La Liga drought; Real Madrid would still endure a disappointing 2000-01 season which saw them lose out in both the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup marquee matches and relinquish their UEFA Champions League title in the semi-final against Bayern Munich – the side they defeated in the exact same stage of the competition en route to winning the trophy in 2000. In their centenary season in 2001-02; Florentino Perez would again make ‘Los Blancos’ the talk of the football world in the summer of 2001 when he signed off a €72 million cheque to Juventus to sign Zinedine Zidane!

A terrible start to the new La Liga season would see them win just twice in their opening 9 games to sit in a poorly 15^th place and 10 points adrift of league leaders – Deportivo La Coruna! A thrilling 3-2 win away against Villarreal on 27/10/2001 would be the catalyst for change as next they won at home against Barcelona in ‘El Clasico’; and although Real Zaragoza would stun them 2-1 on 11/11/2001; Vicente del Bosque’s side would win each of their next 5 amidst a 10 match unbeaten run that also featured another 2 wins!

Their fine winter form meant that they now led the way in La Liga at the end of January 2002; however, with 2 draws already back-to-back, their form would again falter as they won just once in their next 3! Only a draw with Barcelona at Camp Nou on 16/03/2002 denied them a 7 match winning streak as they rose back to the summit of La Liga with 5 games to spare! No one however, could have forecast that they would win just once in those remaining 5 games and in the end, would have to settle for a 3^rd place finish!

In the domestic cup competitions, Real Madrid would get the 2001-02 season underway by defeating Real Zaragoza 4-1 over 2-Legs to win the 2001 edition of the Supercopa de Espana! Real Madrid would come agonisingly close to ending their 19 year wait for the Copa del Rey when they reached the final on 06/03/2002, only to be beaten 2-1 by Deportivo La Coruna!

The notable players that season were:

Javier Portillo, Pedro Munitis, Raul, Fernando Morientes, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Santi Solari, Savio, Guti, Steve McManaman, Albert Celades, Claude Makelele, Flavio Conceicao, Geremi, Esteban Cambiaso, Ivan Campo, Roberto Carlos, Ivan Helguera, Raul Bravo, Aitor Karanka, Fernando Hierro, Michel Salgado, Francisco Pavon, Iker Casillas, Cesar