THE VITALS:

Team: Barcelona

Brand: Nike

Era: 2015-16 (Used for the 2015-16 La Liga season, 2015 UEFA Super Cup Match, 2015 Supercopa De Espana, 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final, and the 2016 Copa del Rey Final)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

These shorts come as close to brand new as you could possibly expect! There is very little (if any) sign of wear, and all of the applications come in immaculate condition.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Waist Measurement: 14.5 inches

Shorts Length: 17 inches

Crafted in the Nike’s ‘Dri-Fit’ mould that they introduced ahead of the 2015-16 season; based on the dimensions, these shorts lend themselves to a fine size small fit,

DESCRIPTION:

In a daring first; Nike would deploy Barcelona with hooped stripes in 2015-16, as opposed to the classic vertical stripes that are synonymous with the club. The design would have the marmite effect: either you loved it or you hated it, in what was one of the most divisive ever shirts to be worn by the ‘Blaugrana’! The shorts also added to the schism, as for the first time since the 2010-11 season, were burgundy shorts worn. The trunks would be complemented by an amber Nike swoosh and a thin navy strip down the side of the legs to break up the colour. Fans will recall Luis Enrique’s second season with the club where he guided Barcelona to a whopping 4 trophies from an available 6 that season, and sadly, the death of club legend and iconic figure of the sport: Johann Cruyff, who sadly passed away on 24/03/16. Luis Suarez would also make history as he became the first winner of the ‘Pichichi’, thus ending the Messi/Ronaldo duopoly of the award since 2010, and this would be the last season club legends: Pedro and Dani Alves featured for the club.

THE SEASON:

An incredible 2014-15 season that began with all sorts of uncertainty for FC Barcelona ended with Luis Enrique doing the unthinkable in his debut season in charge of the club; matching Pep Guardiola’s feat of guiding the club to the La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League treble! Unlike Guardiola however, he would have to deal with the departure of his captain: Xavi and long-term servant: Pedro, while the club also had to deal with a transfer embargo that prevented any new players joining the club until January 2016.

Their quest to win 6 titles in 2015-16 began on August 11^th as met Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup showcase in Tbilisi, Georgia. This would be a rematch of the 2006 contest where Sevilla stunned Barcelona 3-0! Ever Banega would give Sevilla a lead after just 3 minutes, however, an incredibly quick turn around saw Lionel Messi score a brace, before Rafinha made it 3-1 at the break to Barca! Luis Suarez made it 4-1 before the hour mark in what seemed like a forgone conclusion as to the outcome of the bout! Jose Antonio Reyes made it 4-2 shortly after, and then Kevin Gameiro slotted a 72^nd minute penalty home to reduce the arrears to one, before Yevhen Konoplyanka made it 4-4 after coming off the bench in his debut! The game seemed to be heading to penalties, before Pedro, would score his 99^th and final goal for the club to win Barcelona the UEFA Super Cup in a 5-4 classic!

3 days later, they would look reclaim the Supercopa de Espana they last won in 2013. Their opponents would be Athletic Bilbao in a rematch of the 2015 Copa del Rey Final. In an incredible turn of events, the 1^st Leg at San Mames saw the hosts claim an incredible 4-0! Aritz Aduriz would score a sensational 2^nd half hat-trick to leave Barcelona with an absolute mountain to climb if they were to win the Supercopa. The 2^nd Leg at Camp Nou on August 17^th would not be the fairy-tale the hosts were praying for as a 1-1 draw unfolded to see Athletic Club crowned as the Supercopa Champions!

After 3 games in 6 days, Barcelona would have 6 days to prepare for their La Liga curtain raiser against Bilbao, in Bilbao no less! Luis Suarez would score the only goal in a crucial 1-0 win for the champions. Barcelona would see off Malaga 1-0 next before an early season six-shooter against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon. Neymar and Messi would come to the fore, as they would each score in the 2^nd half to overcome their 1-0 deficit to seal a priceless 2-1 win away against the recently dethroned champions.

They began defence of the Champions League title in Group E, where they would have to navigate a group that also included: Roma, Bayer Leverkusen and BATE Borisov. Their September 16^th meeting with Roma in the Italian capital ended 1-1, with Alessandro Florenzi scoring what was eventually the winner of the 2015 Puskas Award. They made it 4 wins out of 4 in the league when they put Levante away 4-1 on September 20^th.

An inauspicious meeting with Celta Vigo on September 23^rd would see Celta Vigo stun Barcelona 4-1; inflicting the first Barcelona defeat in La Liga since February 21^st, a streak that last span 18 games, and then on October 3^rd, Sevilla would claim the scalp of Barcelona in a 2-1 win. Fortunately, Neither: Villarreal, Celta Vigo would win either, and then the Madrid Derby 24 hours later, would also end in a draw.

The international break would be of incredible benefit to Barcelona as the club embarked on an incredible 37 match unbeaten streak in all competitions! This run began with a 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano on October 18^th where they beat Rayo 5-2 at Camp Nou with Neymar scoring 4 times! October would end further wins in La Liga and with a win in the Champions League. There would also be a curious goalless draw with Villanovense on October 28h in the 1^st Leg of their Round of 32 Copa del Rey defense.

A crucial November would see Barca take on: Villarreal, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in the league, as well as the visit of Roma to Camp Nou in the Champions League. A potential banana skin visit of Villarreal saw Neymar and Suarez deputise again in the injured Lionel Messi’s absence, and they combined to see off Villarreal 3-0 ahead of El Clasico on November 21^st. At kick-off, the Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu saw both sides level at the top of the table with 24 points each. Luis Enrique’s side were sizzling as they beat their fierce rivals 4-0! 3 days later, the visit of Roma would yield a superb 6-1 demolition of the Serie A runners-up! An incredible month ended with the ‘MSN’ all scoring in a fantastic 4-0 win at Camp Nou over Real Sociedad!

December would present Barcelona the opportunity to become World Champions at club level as progression to the Last 16 of the Copa del Rey, and the latter was achieved on December 2^nd when they saw off Villanovense 6-1 to set up a Catalan Derby with Espanyol in the Last 16. Their La Liga winning run ended at 6 when Valencia held them to a 1-1 draw and would be held to another 1-1 draw away to Leverkusen in a Match-Day 6 dead rubber in the Champions League. Their reward for an incredible group stage performance would be a meeting with Arsenal in the Last 16! A 2-2 draw with Deportivo La Coruna would be the end of Luis Suarez’ incredible goal scoring run where had scored in each of the team’s 7 preceding Liga games. More importantly, the back-to-back draws allowed Atletico Madrid to move level on points on with Barcelona at the top of the table.

5 days later, Barcelona would descend upon Japan to vie for the right to be crowned as FIFA Club World Cup champions for a 3^rd time. They would defeat Guangzhou Evergrande of China with Luis Suarez scoring a hat-trick. Their opponents in the December 20^th final would be River Plate. Suarez would again strike; coming up with a brace, while Leo Messi also scored, as Barcelona won the final 3-0 and ended 2015 as FIFA Club World Cup champions!

2016 would see signings Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan finally join the club, and Barcelona began with a Copa del Rey dress-rehearsal away against Espanyol in La Liga on January 2^nd, before they welcomed their city rivals to Camp Nou in the cup 4 days later. The clash ended with Barcelona coming from a goal behind to claim a 4-1 win. Granada were then swatted 4-0 with Lionel Messi scoring his first hat-trick of the season. The quarter final of the Copa del Rey was reached when Barcelona beat Espanyol 2-0 on January 13^th. Up next was the visit of Bilbao, and the Supercopa de Espana episode was clearly not forgotten as Barcelona beat the 10-man visitors 6-0!

Speaking of Bilbao; there would be respective 4^th and 5^th meetings this season, as they reunited in the Copa del Rey quarter final. They would win both legs 2-1 and 3-1 respectively to set up a semi-final with under-fire Valencia. Before then, they would have a major test as far as their title defence was concerned as they welcomed Atletico Madrid to the Camp Nou on January 30^th. Once again, Barcelona would come from a goal behind to seal a 2-1 win over Diego Simeone’s side and move 3 points clear of ‘Los Colchoneros’ with a game in hand.

The incredible form of ‘Los Cules’ continued against Valencia in the Copa del Rey as they beat Gary Neville’s Valencia 7-0 at Camp Nou on February 3^rd! Luis Suarez would score 4 goals, while Messi helped himself to a hat-trick! The 2^nd Leg would end 1-1 at Mastella to place them in the 2016 Copa del Rey on May 22^nd against Sevilla. The game marked their 29^th game unbeaten, surpassing the record set by Pep Guardiola’s side in 2011!

On Valentines Day 2016, Barcelona would next make Celta Vigo pay for their upset win on September 23^rd, as they punished the visitors 6-1 at Camp Nou! This game would be immortalised by Lionel Messi’s penalty which rather than shoot, he laid on for Suarez as he notched yet another hat-trick!

Messi himself would net a brace in the 3-1 win over Sporting Gijon on February 17^th would see him become the first ever player to score 300+ La Liga goals! 6 days later, they would take on Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium. Leo Messi’s brace would put Barcelona 2-0 up ahead of the March 16^th 2^nd Leg. On a personal level, this would be the first that Messi scored past Petr Cech having failed to have ever done so in the numerous meetings between Barcelona and Chelsea, when Cech represented the club.

Their Copa del Rey Final dress rehearsal against Sevilla on February 28^th would end with a 2-1 win for Barcelona and keep their 8 point lead at the top of the table firmly in-tact. With the looming visit of Arsenal on March 16^th, Barcelona would score 15 goals in 3 games in the wins over Rayo, Eibar and Getafe. Arsenal would then be beaten 3-1 to seal a 5-1 aggregate elimination of the English side, however, their European Cup defence would meet a potential road-block after being drawn in the quarter final against Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona’s league winning streak would meet a stunning end as they squandered a 2-0 lead against Villarreal to share the spoils 2-2 on March 20^th. On March 24^th the football world would be rocked as Barcelona icon Johann Cruyff passed away from illness.

Following their return from the international break, the reverse ‘El Clasico’ at Camp Nou was next. A win for Barcelona would increase the gap between themselves and Real Madrid to 13 points. The April 2^nd clash would see 10-man Real Madrid stun Barcelona 2-1 to end the legendary unbeaten streak at 37! What followed next, nobody could have predicted…

Their next outing would be the 1^st Leg of their Champions League against Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou. Although they would come away with a 2-1 win, Atletico’s crucial away goal left the game still hanging in the balance ahead of the reverse 8 days later. On April 9^th, Real Sociedad would beat the champions 1-0 at Anoeta! And then 4 days later, Atletico Madrid would repeat their 2014 quarter final elimination over Barcelona, as they overcame the 1^st Leg deficit to claim a 2-0 win at the Vicente Calderon! Valencia would then inflict the first Barcelona defeat at Camp Nou since February 21^st 2015! Inside of 3 games, would see their 9 point lead over Atletico Madrid reduced to zero, and Real Madrid had also moved with a point of both sides.

Realising the sense of urgency, they quickly got their act together beating Deportivo 8-0 and then Sporting Gijon 6-0! Luis Suarez would score back-to-back quadruple’s! Real Betis were then beaten 2-0, before the derby with Espanyol yielded a 5-0 win for Barca on May 6^th. Atletico’s defeat to Levante saw them fall out of the title race ahead of the final match-day on May 14^th against Granada. Luis Suarez would seal his fully deserved ‘Pichichi’ with a hat-trick to seal a 3-0 win and see Barcelona successfully retain their La Liga title by 1 point! He would finish with 40 league goals, and 59 in all competitions to become the club’s first top scorer not called Lionel Messi, since Samuel Eto’o in 2008-09!

Their conclusion to this incredible season ended with trophy number four as they beat Sevilla 2-0 After Extra Time to retain the Copa del Rey. This game would hold the distinction of being Dani Alves’ 391^st and final game for the club; ending his tenure with the club having won 23 titles!

The notable players that season were:

Neymar Jr, Luis Suarez, Arda Turan, Munir, Sandro Ramires, Lionel Messi, Pedro, Rafinha, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Thomas Vermaelen, Gerard Pique, Jeremy Mathieu, Marc Bartra, Dani Alves, Sergi Roberto, Adriano, Jordi Alba, Aleix Vidal, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Claudio Bravo