THE VITALS:

Team: Paris Saint Germain (PSG)

Brand: Nike

Era: 2017-18 (Used for the 2017 Trophee des Champions match, 2017-18 Ligue 1 season, the 2018 Coupe de la Ligue Final and the 2018 Coupe de France Final)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This article comes excellent, almost flawless condition! The material shows next to no wear, the decal, the Nike swoosh and club crest are also immaculate!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18 inches

Shirt Length: 27 inches

Mad in Nike’s ‘Dri-Fit’ mould that was introduced ahead of the 2017-18 season; true to form, this is the quintessential size small fitting football shirt!

DESCRIPTION:

Paris Saint Germain dominated the football world in the summer of 2017 as they changed the face of football transfers forever with their €222 million signing of Neymar from Barcelona! Nike themselves were just as slick in Paris Saint Germain’s new home strip that was to be used for the 2017-18 season. Ditching the classic navy and thick central strip synonymous with ‘PSG’, Nike would instead use their 2016-17 template to devastating effect, utilising redcurrant sleeves and an indigo main body with a red thin vinyl strip down the middle; This is one of the most unique and truly fitting PSG shirts ever crafted by Nike! This would also be the final series of shirts to be worn by 2 of the early stalwarts of the Nasser Al-Khelaifi era: Thiago Motta and Javier Pastore.

THE SEASON:

Unai Emery would be granted reprieve from execution after his debut season ONLY yielded the domestic cup titles, not did Monaco stump them to the title, but there was the infamous ‘Remontada’ episode from the Champions League. That event would inspire the powers that be at the Parc de Princes to pull off the most audacious transfer coup in football history when they evoked Neymar’s release clause of €222 million to secure his services from Barcelona! The second tentacle of the legendary ‘2017-PSG-Summer-Spree’ was the acquisition of French football’s most talented prospect: Kylian Mbappe. The 19 year old had taken the football world by storm in 2017 with his incredible performances in the Champions League and his 15 goals in 29 Ligue 1 games to help Monaco become champions. If that wasn’t enough, defensive recruits: Yuri and the legendary Dani Alves were also acquired.

That outlay would mean there would be a series of players sold such as: Jean-Kevin Augustin, Blaise Matuidi and Serge Aurier, while Maxwell retired and Grzegorz Krychowiak and Goncalo Guedes were allowed to leave on loan. The season began on July 29^th, before the likes of Neymar or Mbappe had arrived, as PSG looked to win the Trophee des Champions for a 5^th time in a row as they battled Monaco in Tangier. They would defeat the defending league champions, with Mbappe in their starting line-up, 2-1 with Dani Alves scoring on his debut and Adrien Rabiot completing the comeback.  

Neymar’s signing would be completed on August 3^rd 2017 and then 2 days later, PSG would kick off the Ligue 1 campaign with a 2-0 win at home against Amiens. The most expensive footballer in history would make his bow on August 13^th against Guingamp and of course he would score PSG’s 3^rd in a 3-0 win. PSG would go 4/4 in the ‘W’ column ahead of Mbappe’s protracted arrival at the end of August.

He’d score on his PSG debut away against Metz as they strolled to a 5-1 win, before Lyon were beaten 2-0 at the Parc de Princes on September 17^th. 4 days later, the trio of Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Mbappe all scored as they decimated Celtic 5-0 at Celtic Park to kick off their Champions League campaign. ‘The Parisien’s’ would drop their first points of the season away against Montpellier, that would quickly be forgotten however, as PSG welcomed Bayern Munich to the Parc des Princes on September 27^th and trashed the 5 time winners of the UCL 3-0! They would follow that win up by smashing Bordeaux 6-2 3 days later to move 3 points clear of Monaco.

October would see PSG hammer Anderlecht in the Champions League by a cumulative 9-0 score, however, they would need to count on the talent of Edinson Cavani in ‘La Classique’ as his 93^rd minute free-kick salvaged a point in a thrilling game against Marseille at the Velodrome on October 22^nd. They would end the month by going 16 matches unbeaten in all competitions following a fine 3-0 win over Nice. Still their advantage at the top of the table was only 4 points, with Monaco retaining a fierce pace of their own.

November would see maximum points collected across all competitions, and with it likely where the title was to be won when they beat Monaco 2-1 at the Stade Louis II on November 26^th; the win put them 9 points clear of both Lyon and Monaco. Their finest showing however, would be in the Champions League as they beat Celtic 7-1 at home, in a game where they actually went 1-0 down!

After 21 games, the bubble would finally burst in the ‘L’ column sadly, as Strasbourg inflicted a shock 2-1 win over the champions elect on December 2^nd, before Bayern beat them 3-1 at the Allianz Arena 3 days later. Although PSG would finish top of the group, they would certainly get the worse end of the bargain as they drew defending European Champions: Real Madrid in the Round of 16! PSG would quickly get revenge over Strasbourg on December 13^th to begin defence of the Coupe de la Ligue as they beat their assailants 4-2. 2017 would end with PSG’s 9 point lead at the top of the table firmly in-tact.

Lucas Moura would depart the club in January as he joined Serge Aurier at Tottenham Hotspur, while Lassana Diarra was signed as midfield cover on a free transfer. A busy January would yield 8 fixtures across 3 competitions, and while the team would reach the final of the Coupe de la Ligue and Round of 16 of the Coupe de France, they would suffer their second defeat in the league against Lyon on January 21^st. In spite of the aberration, PSG remained 9 points clear at the top and had already scored 72 goals in just 23 games! Their latest demolition job would be the 8-0 plundering of Dijon on January 17^th where Neymar helped himself to 4 goals!

February would represent the business end of the season as the Champions League returned. Ahead of the Saint Valentines Day showdown with Real Madrid, Unai Emery’s side would rattle off 6 wins all competitions, and after Real Madrid had all but surrendered their La Liga title in 2017, PSG were appearing as the favourites ahead of this incredible showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu. Despite taking the lead in the Spanish capital, they would fall to a 3-1 defeat, however, the away goal would leave just a glimmer of home that as their home fortress they could pull off the turn around on March 6^th.

12 points from an available 12 were secured in the league as their lead now expanded to 14 points; leaving them just 7 wins away from regaining the title. Their excellent 3-0 win over Marseille on February 25^th would come at a severe cost; Neymar would fracture a metatarsal and be side-lined for the duration of the season. A tragic end of the campaign for a player who at that point had 28 goals in just 30 games for his new club. 3 days later, they beat Marseille again 3-0, this time to reach the semi-final of the Coupe de France.

The disappointment continued on March 6^th as Real Madrid became the first side to beat PSG at home in the Champions League since Barcelona did in 2015; they would beat the 10 men of the home side 2-1 to go through by way of an embarrassing 5-2 aggregate score. By the end of the month, PSG would successfully retain the French League Cup when they beat Monaco 3-0 in the March 31^st final in Bordeaux. Furthermore, they extended their winning spree in the league to 9 with wins over: Troyes, Metz, Angers and Nice.

Now 16 points clear at the top with just 7 games to spare, it was now just a matter of how quick would the title be theirs and could they complete yet another domestic clean-sweep as they did in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and even surpass their 96 point total from the latter season.

Saint-Etienne became the first side to take points from PSG since January when they held them to a 1-1 draw on April 6^th. The following weekend, PSG would have the chance to wrap up the title, against the defending champions Monaco no less. The home side would inflict a merciless 7-1 beating to the visitors; going 4-1 up at half-time! The game would also bring to 103 goals scored, 1 more than they did in the whole of the 2015-16 season!

3 days later, Caen would be beaten to seal passage to the French Cup Final on May 8^th where they would meet 3^rd division Les Herbiers! Regrettably, there would be a huge slump in league form as they won just one of their remaining 5 games, and even lost to Rennes on the penultimate game of the season! That lackadaisical approach would cost them as they fell short of surpassing their 96 point mark by a sum of 3, they would however finish the season on a high in Unai Emery’s final game in charge, he delivered the domestic quadruple with a 2-0 win in the Coupe de France Final!

The notable players that season were:

Hatem Ben Arfa, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr, Edinson Cavani, Julian Draxler, Angel Di Maria, Javier Pastore, Giovani Lo Celso, Lassana Diarra, Christopher Nkunku, Marco Verratti, Adrien Rabiot, Yuri Berchiche, Dani Alves, Thomas Meunier, Thilo Kehrer, Presnel Kimpembe, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Layvin Kurzawa, Alphonse Areola, Kevin Trapp