THE VITALS:

Team: Paris Saint Germain (PSG)

Brand: Nike

Era: 2020-21 (Used for the 2020-21 Ligue 1 Season)

Name/Number: Mbappe #7

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

Although the QNB sponsor on the sleeve has faded, I would still say that this shirt is in excellent condition! The shirt material, club crest, Nike swoosh, vinyl sponsor and name and numbering are excellent as is the condition of the collar!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Large

Pit to Pit Measurement: 22.5 inches

Shirt Length: 28 inches

Made by Nike in their ‘Dri-Fit’ range of shirts which they introduced in 2020; the width of this shirt in particular is very generous for a Nike shirt which may make this shirt better suited to a size extra large rather than a large.

DESCRIPTION:

While the Jump Man collaborations were contemporary modern influenced designs; Nike would ensure that the home and away strips of PSG in 2020-21 were an ode to the some of the glorious shirts of the clubs past, however, the away shirt may have even outdone the home shirt! Nike would restore a classic design of which was introduced to PSG away shirts back in the mid-90s; the classic white backdrop with the big red block going down the middle beautifully complemented with blue outlines! This design was a staple of at Paris Saint Germain for every season between 1994-2000, however, it only made one appearance again afterwards as the away shirt in the 2007-08 season. Nevertheless, this adaptation is no doubt one of the finest reprisals of a classic and with the crest and Nike swoosh brought higher up the shirt and much closer together, and the use of the blue polo collar; it really brings back those 1996-97 feels! If that wasn’t enough of a throwback, they wore that shirt in the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners Cup Final defeat to Barcelona, and as fate would have it; this shirt would be worn as PSG vanquished Barcelona 4-1 at the Camp Nou on 16/02/2021! This shirts most prominent appearance however, may have been on 07/04/2021 when amidst a snowy Allianz Arena; PSG would beat Bayern Munich 3-2 in the 1^st Leg of their UEFA Champions League Quarter Final clash in what was a modicum of revenge after Bayern beat them in the 2020 Finale!

THE SEASON:

The 2019-20 season was an exceptional campaign where they were awarded the 2019-20 Ligue 1 crown after the league was cancelled following the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020, however, before that, they would scoop up the Trophee des Champions, before winning both the Coupe de la Ligue in what was the final ever edition of that competition and also reclaiming the Coupe de France before descending on Portugal to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League; only to be narrowly beaten by Bayern Munich.

The chaos of the delayed start to the 2020-21 season saw long time stalwarts: Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and Thomas Meunier all leave the club on free transfers, however, Mauro Icardi and Sergio Rico’s loan moves were made permanent from Inter Milan and Sevilal respectively, while Rafinha arrived on a free transfer from Barcelona and loan deals were struck for: Alessandro Florenzi, Moise Kean and Danilo Pereira.

Their title defence would begin with back to back defeats including a painful 1-0 defeat at home against Marseille in an ill-tempered showdown. They would rally as they to win each of their next 8 league games, however, a sloppy run of 3 wins from their next 6 games would spell the end of the Thomas Tuchel reign as he was replaced by Mauricio Pochettino ahead of the new year.

‘Poch’ would pick the club up as they lay in 3^rd place behind Lille and Lyon, but could only muster a draw against Saint-Etienne in his Ligue 1 managerial debut.  He would end the campaign with a record of: 15 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats; however, the defeats were costly as they came against Monaco and Lille in particular, and ultimately PSG would have to settle for a 2^nd place finish to eventual champions Lille.

Mauricio Pochettino would however win his first two pieces of silverware as a manager, the first of which came in the delayed 2020 Trophee des Champions fixture versus Marseille as PSG prevailed 2-1 in the January 13^th showdown in Lens. He would also ensure that PSG retained the Coupe de France when they eased past Monaco 2-0 on May 19^th!

In the UEFA Champions League, PSG would be drawn with a pair of familiar foes over the last 2 seasons in the Group Stage – Manchester United who famously upset them in 2019 and RB Leipzig whom PSG defeated to reach the final in 2020. After falling 2-1 to United in Paris on Match-Day 1, PSG would rally to eventually top the group, with the 3-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Match-Day 5 proving seminal.

Their reward would be a clash with Barcelona in the Last 16 in what was a rematch of the infamous ‘Remontada’ of 2017. Incredibly, PSG would win 4-1 in the 1^st Leg at the Camp Nou with Kylian Mbappe netting a famous hat-trick, and they ensured that there would be no repeat of the Barca heroics of 4 years ago as they secured a 1-1 draw in Paris. In the quarter final was another opportunity for revenge; this time versus Bayern Munich in a rematch of the final they played in August 2020. Paris would ride their luck in both legs, but would come out as victors on away goals thanks to their fine 3-2 victory in the 1^st Leg! The semi-final versus Manchester City would prove one milestone too many as they were beaten 4-1 on aggregate.

The notable players that season were:

Mauro Icardi, Moise Kean, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr, Pablo Sarabia, Rafinha, Julian Draxler, Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes, Idrissa Gueye, Marco Verratti, Danilo Pereira, Juan Bernat, Thomas Meunier, Thilo Kehrer, Alessandro Florenzi, Mitchel Bakker, Colin Dagba, Presnel Kimpembe, Abdou Diallo, Marquinhos, Layvin Kurzawa, Keylor Navas, Sergio Rico