In honour of the late Paul The Octopus, who got so many predictions right during the 2010 World Cup, we’ll try to call tonight’s Champions League final based on how many merchandise catalogues we have for Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
On that basis, we expect a 3-1 victory for Bayern. Enjoy:
Bayern Munich
The 1996-97 catalogue features a potted history on pages 2 and 3 and is quite image-light overall, considering the subject matter.
Bayern marketed red and blue sets of home shirts for the first-choice kit but the red only appeared on a couple of occasions.
A lot changed in the space of three years, with the 1999-2000 catalogue coming in at 88 pages.
After a navy home strip from 1997-99, red was back and it was a marvellous offering, even if it did make Oliver Kahn’s back-up choice redundant.
Yes, that is Lothar Matthäus pretending to enjoy himself in bed on page 80.
For 2006-07, things were a bit smaller – both in pagination and physical size as the catalogue is A5.
The smart new change kit joined the white-shorted home strip which notable for the absence of adidas stripes, but they did appear in the Champions League and possibly some domestic games.
The term ‘Lady Collection’ sounds a bit quaint/sexist, while the mini-figures look slightly freaky.
Paris Saint-Germain
The PSG catalogue in our collection dates from the 2001-02 season – check out Ronaldinho with short hair.
The cover declares that they are proud of their colours but this season saw a move to darker blue and the movement of the large red stripe to the left of the shirt, running through the crest but far narrower.
It’s notable how a lot of ancillary items like the mouse mat, mini-kits and keyrings feature the 2000-01 strips.
