Sporting Clube de Portugal 2008/09 Home Shirt

The PT group rotated its badges on the Lions' chest and in 2008/09 it was tmn, in bright blue, standing out against the hoops, with BES on the back and golden pumas repeated on the shoulders. The season started in the best possible way: another Supertaça won at Porto's expense, a 2-0 victory in the Algarve with two goals from Yannick Djaló deputising for the injured Liedson, the third consecutive trophy lifted against the Dragons. In Europe, Sporting qualified for the Champions League round of 16 for the first time in their history, winning four group games. And then came Bayern Munich: 0-5 at Alvalade and 7-1 in Bavaria, a 12-1 aggregate that remains the heaviest knockout tie defeat the competition has ever seen. In the league, another runners up finish behind Porto, and in the Taça da Liga the final was lost to Benfica on penalties. A shirt that lived through the best and the worst within months, which is exactly why it tells the whole season without needing a caption.

Here at Hoopster this shirt lived the best and the unthinkable: a first trip to the Champions League last sixteen and the Bayern storm right after. Honest hoops tell both halves of the story.