“When you’re man-marking, being two yards away isn’t close enough – I had to be able to smell his breath,” says Paul Lambert of expertly nullifying Zinedine Zidane during Borussia Dortmund’s 1997 Champions League final win over Juventus.
“I’ve never really watched the entire game back, although I’ve seen the highlights and goals of course.
“What I can remember is that I was pretty much always on the tail of Zidane, who was probably the world’s greatest player at the time.”
Twenty-seven years have passed since Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Dortmund famously toppled the Italians 3-1 in Munich’s Olympiastadion to win their only European Cup to date.
Aristocratic Juventus were the reigning champions and dripping with stellar names such as Didier Deschamps, Christian Vieri, Alessandro Del Piero and Zidane.
Dortmund, though, boasted the likes of Stefan Reuter, Jürgen Kohler, Matthias Sammer and Andreas Möller, who had helped Germany to win Euro 96 the previous summer.
Lambert, who patrolled the centre of midfield alongside Portugal’s Paulo Sousa, adds: “I knew I’d be man-marking Zidane because that was my job at Dortmund when I played against guys like Stefan Effenberg, Thomas Hassler and Mehmet Scholl in the Bundesliga.
“I faced some great No 10s around that time – Krasimir Balakov at Stuttgart, Milinko Pantic at Atlético Madrid and Paulo Sérgio at Bayer Leverkusen.
“It was always my duty to close them down and Ottmar showed us footage of Zidane, as he liked to do. He was fantastic with both feet, had a great stepover either way and was brilliant at drifting. If you got caught ball watching or gave him too much space, he could really hurt you.”
Lambert, though, produced a tenacious, highly disciplined display as Hitzfeld’s men, who had dumped out Manchester United in the semi-finals, went 2-0 up at half-time.
Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice, the first from Lambert’s cross, and although Del Piero replied for Juventus, Lars Ricken’s strike confirmed a truly historic win for Dortmund.
“If you look at that dressing room, it’s easy to forget how many word-class players we had,” says 54-year-old Lambert, who spent just over a year at Dortmund before joining Celtic in November 1997.
“Kohler, Sammer and Martin Kree were unbelievable defenders. Jorg Heinrich was an incredible wing-back and Stefan Reuter had great speed. Then you had Paulo Sousa, Lars Ricken, Michael Zorc and Andy Möller with Stéphane Chapuisat and Riedle up front.
“These guys knew how to win and they trained how they played, plus we had a really clever coach in Ottmar. Playing in his team was just a brilliant experience, so I had massive belief in myself and the guys alongside me.
“I met Zidane during a visit to Real Madrid some years later and we had a chat and a laugh about 1997 because I had played against him in a European Cup final and won.”
‘Amazing’ celebrations – and gaining a Rolex from a team-mate
After lifting the trophy, Hitzfeld’s victorious team headed into Munich to party.
“Dear oh dear, it was absolute mayhem,” remembers Lambert with a huge smile. “Then we flew back to Dortmund for the celebrations on the Thursday and I’ve never seen or experienced anything like it. It’s a one-club city with a population of 600,000 and everyone turned out to greet us – it was an amazing sight.
“Even though Dortmund were a big club already, winning the Champions League elevated their status even further.
“We had a great party that night before training on Friday because we still had one final Bundesliga game to play. I remember Ottmar saying ‘Paul, are you okay to play on Saturday?’ I played again and we beat Cologne 2-1, despite having partied for three days.”
Lambert has a treasured memento from that glorious European campaign; a luxury Rolex Daytona watch from team-mate Riedle.
“We flew back from Auxerre after beating them in the quarter-finals,” explains the former Scotland international. “I said ‘Kalle, I bet you that watch we’re going to win the Bundesliga or the Champions League’ and he agreed.
“Then after the final, we were partying away and Kalle threw the watch at me. Years later, someone in Glasgow offered me a lot of money for it – but I refused because the sentimental value is irreplaceable.”
Lambert remains close to several of the 1997 Champions League-winning side and will be at Wembley to support Edin Terzić’s men in Saturday’s final against Real Madrid.
“I’m really looking forward to going as a fan,” says Lambert.
“I experienced the Yellow Wall about six years ago with my wife because watching a Dortmund game from there at the Westfalenstadion was always on my bucket list.
“We stood right in the middle of it and it was absolutely unbelievable, so I know how supportive the Dortmund fans are, as they will be at Wembley on Saturday.”
Lambert is wary of the threat posed by Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo on the counter-attack.
“Dortmund’s defensive display is going to be key to everything, but I believe they will go for Madrid rather than just sitting back,” he says.
“It’s just a case of saying ‘if we do attack, then make sure we have everything covered’ because Madrid are so good in transition.”
