THE VITALS:

Team: Olympique de Marseille (Marseille)

Brand: Puma

Era: 2018-19 (Used for the 2018-19 Ligue 1 season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This shirt comes to you in excellent condition looking almost brand-new as evidenced by how little wear the material, sponsor decal or embroidery displays

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 21 inches

Shirt Length: 31.5 inches 

Made in the 2008-09 series of the Adidas ‘ClimaCool’ range; this shirt could easily fit a size large, such were the dimensions of the Adidas shirts made during that season.

DESCRIPTION:

After 22 consecutive seasons – Olympique Marseille would have a new kit manufacturer with Puma replacing Adidas ahead of the 2018-19 season. To make their announcement and stand out from the pack, Puma would put together a home shirt that used the classic white backdrop, but would include for the first time in the club’s history – sky blue sleeves. Puma would embroider their own insignia in gold to match the star and the text on the club crest, while the blue collar was bordered using a white trim to create a truly beautiful shirt that was also different to each of its predecessors. Rudi Garcia’s final season in charge may not have scaled the heights of the 2017-18 season, however, this season would be a landmark not only for the new era in the kit department, but also for the arrival of Mario Balotelli, who enjoyed a spectacular loan spell in 2019 where netted 8 goals in 15 games and this season also fellow high profile arrivals such as Duje Caleta-Car, Nemanja Radonjic and Kevin Strootman as Marseille finished the decade of the 2010’s with a 5^th place finish.

THE SEASON:

Marseille’s 2017-18 season will always remain one of those ‘what if’ seasons after an incredible 2018 section of the season where they lost just twice in Ligue 1 and reached the final of the Europa League. Unfortunately for OM, one of those defeats would come against Lyon with that incredible 3-2 defeat at the Velodrome on 18^th March proving the difference as Lyon finished in 3^rd place ahead of Marseille by just 1 point to earn the right to play Champions League football in 2018-19.

In spite of the disappointments in the league and in Europe; there was still plenty for fans to get excited about ahead of the new season. The coffers would be opened for Rudi Garcia as a total outlay of €56 million was spent on the signings of: Duje Caleta-Car, Nemanja Radonjic and Kevin Strootman as the club looked to break into the top 3 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

The campaign couldn’t have started any better as Marseille hosted Toulouse to open the new Ligue 1 season and thwarted them 4-0 to lead the pack after the first round of games. W’s would come in short supply thereafter for the rest of 2018 as they picked up just 7 more wins in their next 18 league games of the year. Fortunately for OM, everyone around them would also suffer a similar vein of inconsistency, with just 4 points separating Lille in 2^nd place and Marseille in who were in 6^th place as 2018 bid us farewell. Crucially however, in the case of Marseille, was that 4 of their defeats (Paris Saint Germain, Lyon, Montpellier and Lille), were all sides higher than them in the standings.

2019 began with a 1-1 draw with Monaco at home before falling to a 2-1 defeat away against Saint Etienne in their rescheduled battle on 16^th January. OM’s poor form would extend to a further two defeats against Lille and Reims as they started February with just 34 points on the board. This would set the tone however, for Marseille’s best spell of the season when they went unbeaten in their next 6 games – claiming 5 wins which propelled them up to 4^th place, and within 3 points of 3^rd place Lyon. A defeat away against PSG would derail that form, and their quest to finish in top 3 would become less and less of a reality following a run of 3 games without a win and in the end, would have to settle for a disappointing 6^th place Ligue 1 finish.

The cup competitions would be another source of disappointment for OM in 2018-19 with the Coupe de la Ligue foray ending at the first hurdle, when they were beaten on penalties by Strasbourg. In the Coupe de France, they would suffer the ignominy of being eliminated in the Round of 64 by National League side -  ASF Andrézieux.

Just 4 months earlier, Marseille were playing in the final of the Europa League, however, their return to the competition would be a disaster as they lost 5 out of their 6 Group Stage games to crash out in the Group Stage, with their sole point coming in the 2-2 draw away against Apollon Limassol on 4^th October.

The notable players that season were:

Kostas Mitroglu, Valere Germain, Florian Thauvin, Clinton N’Jie, Mario Balotelli, Lucas Ocampos, Maxime Lopez, Luiz Gustavo, Dimitri Payet, Kevin Strootman, Nemanja Radonjic, Morgan Sanson, Tomas Hubocan, Adil Rami, Jordan Amavi, Bouna Sarr, Duje Caleta-Car, Rolando, Boubacar Kamara, Hiroki Sakai, Yohann Pele, Steve Mandanda