THE VITALS:

Team: Bayern Munich

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2015-16 (Used for the last day of the 2014-15 Bundesliga season, the 2015 DFL-Supercup match, and the 2015-16 Bundesliga season)

Name/Number: Gotze #19

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This article comes to you in excellent, almost brand-new condition! The decal, name and numbering, embroidery and crest are also of the highest standard, meanwhile, the material itself is near-flawless!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18 inches

Shirt Length: 27.25 inches

Made in the Adidas ‘ClimaCool’ range that was introduced ahead of the 2015-16 season; this shirt provides the dimensions for the quintessential perfect size small football shirt!

DESCRIPTION: 

After the use of blue and red stripes in the 2014-15 season, Adidas went back to all red for the 2015-16 season, albeit with the addition of ‘rotwein’ (red wine) coloured trims and accents, in something of a throwback to the club’s colours prior to the late 1960’s. This mesh of modern and old was a beautiful conglomeration of style and tradition; perfectly fitting for Pep Guardiola’s final season as the Bayern Munich manager. As per Adidas’ main shirt template for the 2015-16 season; the shirt employs a simple, yet classy two-tone colour scheme, with an almost blood red being complement by the red wine hem, hoops on the sleeves, collar and subtly, the Adidas 3-stripes down the arms! This would also be the last home shirt of the Pep Guardiola era at the club.

THE SEASON:

A 3^rd straight Bundesliga title was secured in 2014-15, however, with the league as the only piece of silverware collected; Pep Guardiola’s second season was looked on as a bit of a disappointment. His final year of contract would place even more pressure on the Spaniard to deliver even more this season; more succinctly, bringing the Champions League back to the Allianz Arena. Club legends: Bastian Schweinsteiger and Claudio Pizarro were allowed to leave in the close season, however, a host of world class players arrived, namely: Arturo Vidal, Douglas Costa, and incredible youth prospects: Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman were also drafted in ahead of the new season.

If this was to be Guardiola’s final season, he would leave Germany with the ignominy of losing a 3^rd straight DFL-Supercup; this time falling to Wolfsburg in the German curtain raiser. Just 2 weeks later, there would be hell to pay as they beat Hamburg 5-0 at the Allianz to start the new BuLi season. By the time Bayern would take on Wolfsburg in the league on September 22^nd 2015, Bayern had won 7 straight in all competitions. The game with Wolfsburg would be legendary however, for the performance of Robert Lewandowski, where after coming on as a substitute at half time, he would score an incredible 5 goals in the space of 9 minutes to gift Bayern a 5-1 win!

On October 4^th, they would meet Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz, and after another 5-1 demolition of a rival; they would go 7 points of Thomas Tuchel’s side at the top of the BuLi. 16 days later however, they would see their 12 match winning streak in all competitions snapped, as they were beaten 2-0 away against Arsenal in the Champions League. Just as Wolfsburg would find out; beating Bayern would be to their peril, as 2 weeks later, Bayern would beat Arsenal 5-1 in the reverse fixture at the Allianz Arena on November 4^th.

December 5^th would see Bayern’s unbeaten start to the league campaign ended by Borussia Monchengladbach, however they would end a brilliant 2015 portion of the season 8 points clear at the top of the table, in the quarter final of the BFB-Pokal, and with a UEFA Champions League Last 16 clash with Juventus to look forward to in 2016. There was however, the confirmation that Pep Guardiola would be finishing his contract with the club at the end of the season, with Carlo Ancelotti already lined to up be his successor at the start of the 2016-17 season.

They would return to action on January 22^nd against HSV, and picked up where they left off with a 2-1 win, and although the  goals were not flowing as free as they did in 2015; Bayern were in the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal after defeating Bochum on February 10^th. On February 23^rd, they took to the Juventus Stadium to tackle Juventus, and would take 2-0 lead, only to be pegged back 2-2 to set up a mouth-watering 2^nd Leg in Germany on March 16^th. Their form would be mixed heading into this clash; going 2-1-1 against a Juve side who were in red-hot form domestically. In a reversal of events; Juventus would take a 2-0 lead, however, Bayern would show their champion spirt; securing extra-time after Thomas Muller’s stoppage time equaliser. Thiago Alcantara and former Juve man: Kingsley Coman would score for Bayern in extra time as their strength in numbers and momentum secured a classic European win for ‘Die Rotten’.

The win would galvanise the side; after failing to win in back-to-back league games for the first time at the start of March; the club would embark on a 6 match winning run in the league; a stint that left the champions 7 points clear with 3 games left to run. 4 days earlier, on April 19^th, Thomas Muller would score a brace against Werder Bremen to send Bayern to the DFB Pokal Final against Dortmund May 21^st.

After eliminating Benfica in the quarter final of the Champions League, Guardiola meet Spanish opposition once again the semi-final, this time Atletico Madrid. Bayern would be beaten 1-0 in the 1^st Leg in Spain, before a rollercoaster clash in Germany would end in a 2-1 win, but Bayern would crash out on away goals; thus resigning Guardiola and Bayern to a 3^rd successive semi-final exit. That weekend, Bayern would be crowned 2015-16 Bundesliga champions following their 2-1 win over Ingolstadt, before ending the league campaign with a 3-1 win over Hannover, to officially win the title and be crowned champions for a record 4^th successive season.

In Pep Guardiola’s final game in charge of Bayern Munich, he would watch his side defeat Borussia Dortmund 4-3 on penalties; claiming his 7^th title in 3 seasons with the club as he prepared to take over at Manchester City.    

The notable players that season were:

Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Kingsley Coman, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Douglas Costa, Mario Gotze, Thiago, Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal, Joshua Kimmich, Phillip Lahm, David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, Medhi Benatia, Serdar Tasci, Dante, Javi Martinez, Holger Badstuber, Rafinha, Juan Bernat, Manuel Neuer, Tom Starke, Sven Ulreich