No.333 Real Zaragoza 94-95 (H)
made by: Puma
sponsor: Pikolín
players: Nayim, Juan Esnáider, Gustavo Poyet, Miguel Pardeza, Fernando Cáceres, Cafu
Real Zaragoza’s 1994-95 home shirt, made by Puma and carrying the classic Pikolín sponsor.
For Zaragoza, this was much more than just another season in La Liga. The team finished seventh in the league, but 1994-95 became one of the most important seasons in the club’s history because of their run in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Víctor Fernández’s side included a very distinctive group of players: captain Miguel Pardeza, Gustavo Poyet, Juan Esnáider, Fernando Cáceres, Nayim and, for part of the season, Brazilian right-back Cafu. It is a squad that makes this shirt particularly interesting even before considering what happened in Europe.
Zaragoza reached the Cup Winners’ Cup final in Paris after eliminating Chelsea in the semi-finals. Their opponent at the Parc des Princes was defending champion Arsenal.
Esnáider opened the scoring in the second half before John Hartson equalised for Arsenal. The match went into extra time and seemed certain to end with a penalty shoot-out.
Then came the moment that defined this Zaragoza team.
In the final minute of extra time, Nayim noticed David Seaman away from his goal and tried an extraordinary shot from around 40 metres. The ball went over Seaman and into the net, giving Zaragoza a 2-1 victory and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
More than thirty years later, that goal is still inseparable from the memory of Real Zaragoza’s 1994-95 season.
The shirt itself is also a very good example of early-1990s Spanish football design. The combination of Puma, the Real Zaragoza crest and the large Pikolín sponsor gives it a character that is very specific to this period. It is simple at first glance, but instantly recognisable once you know Spanish football from the era.
Pikolín would become one of the sponsors most closely associated with Zaragoza shirts, and for me this Puma period is one of the most memorable combinations.
I originally collected this shirt many years ago, and it remains one of my favourite Spanish shirts from the 1990s.
A shirt from the season of Poyet, Esnáider, Pardeza and Nayim — and, above all, the season of Paris 1995.
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