FC Barcelona football shirt Messi 2012

The orange FC Barcelona football shirt with Lionel Messi on the back dates from a period when the club was still at the pinnacle of European football, but an era was slowly approaching its turning point.

Facts
• Club: FC Barcelona
• Brand: Nike
• Season: 2012–2013
• Player: Lionel Messi
• Back number: 10
• Size: Medium

• Condition: Used – wear and cracking in the number print (see picture) and some loose stitching at the bottom.

FOOTBALL MEMORIES

The 2012–13 season became one of the most extreme in FC Barcelona's modern history. In the league, the team was dominant and set a points record in La Liga, but in Europe, it was a sudden and brutal awakening. Nevertheless, Lionel Messi was the focal point of everything Barcelona did on the pitch.

During this period, Messi played with a naturalness that almost made the surreal commonplace. The goals came week after week, often without drama, but with a precision and timing that even then set him apart from everyone else. The number 10 was not just a back number – it was the center of the system.

The orange away shirt was used in contrast to the club's traditional colours but symbolises precisely this phase: a Barcelona that dared to stand out, but still built on the same ball possession, movement, and technical superiority. The shirt is closely associated with Messi's historic scoring streaks in the league and his role as the world's most decisive player.

The wear and tear in the number and name tell their own story. These are traces of use – and thus also of football, not just collecting. A shirt from a season where Barcelona won a lot, Messi scored even more, and where the standard for what was “normal” was permanently shifted.

Is this FC Barcelona football shirt the next chapter in a collection about the years when Messi made the extraordinary routine?