THE VITALS:

Team: Bayern Munich

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2009-10 (Used for the final game of the 2008-09 Bundesliga season and for the 2009-10 Bundesliga season)

Name/Number: Van Bommel #17

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

Even after turning 12 years old at the time of writing, this shirt comes to you in fantastic condition! Although there is some slight wear to the felt Bundesliga badges on the sleeve; the shirt material, embroidery, club crest, sponsor and name and numbering print are all in elite standing!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: 13-14 Yrs

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18.5 inches

Shirt Length: 25 inches

Made by Adidas in their ‘ClimaCool’ range of shirts which they introduced in 2009; although tempting, I would advise against buying this shirt if you normally wear an adult size small or extra small shirt.

DESCRIPTION:

After two seasons of the horizontal striped experiment; Adidas went back to pure ‘Die Rotten’ basics with this fantastic shirt! Making its debut on the final game of the 2008-09 Bundesliga season when they defeated Stuttgart 2-1 to pip them to 2^nd place; this beautiful red shirt only relies on a distinctive white v-collar and hoops around the sleeve in one of those instances where beauty and simplicity really do come together to create a truly masterful shirt! It was just a shame that this shirt wasn’t worn in either of the 2010 DFB-Pokal or UEFA Champions League Final’s, however, this shirt will most certainly be remembered as what was worn during an epic season where Bayern came within 90 minutes of securing a historic treble in Louis Van Gaal’s debut season at the helm! This would also be the first Bayern Munich home shirt to be worn by Arjen Robben as he began his majestic spell with the club, and was also the first home shirt worn at senior level for the club by David Alaba!

THE SEASON:

A second trophyless season in the space of three season’s would underline a truly disappointing season for Bayern Munich in 2008-09 that would cost Jurgen Klinsmann his job as head coach less than a season into the post. To guide Bayern into the 2010’s, the decision makers at the Allianz Arena would bring Louis Van Gaal in as manager with the legendary Dutch manager having just guided AZ Alkmaar to a stunning Eredivisie title!

There weren’t just transitions made in the dugout ahead of the 2009-10 season with: Lucio, Tim Borowski and Lukas Podolski all moving on, meanwhile, there would be the acquisitions of: Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Danijel Prajic, Edson Braafheid, Ivica Olic and the big money signings of Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben!

The Van Gaal era would start by going 3 league games without a win, in fact, following the 22/11/09 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen; the club had just won 5 times in their opening 13 league games! From there, the team would click into gear; winning each of their next 9 outings to move level on points at the top of the table with Leverkusen. Bayern would alternate wins and draws in their next 4 games to make it 13 games unbeaten and claim the initiative at the summit of the league with 8 games to spare. Back to back defeats to Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart threatened to derail their title bid, however, they’d defeat league leader’s – Schalke 04 to reclaim 1^st place. 3 wins from their remaining 5 games of the season would ensure that Bayern would be crowned as the 2009-10 Bundesliga champions; reclaiming the title with a 5 point margin!

The DFB-Pokal would also return to Bavaria, with Bayern Munich crushing all-comers en route to securing another league and cup double. Perennial rivals – Schalke were beaten 1-0 after extra time in the semi-finals to set up a finale versus Werder Bremen on 15/05/10 where they crushed the title holders 4-0 at the Olympiastadion!

The UEFA Champions League began in Group A where they were joined by French champions – Bourdeaux and Juventus! By the end of match-day 4, the 4x European Cup winners had won just once, however, they would defeat Juventus 4-1 in the 2^nd place decider in Munich on 08/12/09 to reach the Last 16! Bayern’s navigation of the knockout stages was equally as dramatic as they edged past Fiorentina and then Manchester United by away goals; each time after battling to 4-4 aggregate draws! Dodging Inter Milan and Barcelona in the semi-final; Bayern would be tasked with Olympique Lyonnais, and again they would net 4 goals over 2-Legs; crushing their French opposition 4-0 on aggregate with Ivica Olic scoring a hat-trick in the 2^nd Leg in France on 27/04/10! Bayern Munich would play in their first Champions League Final since winning the competition in 2001 and they would meet Internazionale in the Madrid spectacle on 22/05/2010, with both sides baying for a historical treble. It wasn’t to be for Bayern as the heavy favourites – Inter prevailed 2-0.

The notable players that season were:

Mario Gomez, Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose, Ivica Olic, Luca Toni, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Hamit Altintop, Toni Kroos, Danijel Pranjic     , Bastian Schweinsteiger, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Mark van Bommel, Phillip Lahm, David Alaba, Martin Demichelis, Holger Badstuber, Daniel Van Buyten, Diego Contento, Hans-Jorg Butt, Thomas Kraft, Michael Rensing