Zinedine Zidane was canceled out in a Champions League final in Munich during his Juventus days when Scot Paul Lambert Borussia Dortmund inspired the victory in 1997
If Didier Drogba is known for dominating the last final in Munich, then it is a shot that has his name in lights. The iconic but now abandoned Olympiastadion in Munich was the home of Bayern Munich for years – and held a fair share of the European cup final.
The modern Allianz Arena remains a face to see, but the nostalgia of a career and Olympic heritage was the stage on which a Paul Lambert Zinedine Zidane silent when Borussia Dortmund Juventus shocked to claim the Champions League.
The German side went in like sturdy Underdogs against the Italians, who were also defending champions. If Dortmund had some advantage, it played in their own country, but it was about it.
They could not compete with the names of the old lady's team magazine when Zidane and Alessandro del Piero rolled into the city. A man from Glasgow, who had previously played for St. Mirren and Motherwell, had not read the script.
Lambert would help the opener of Karl-Heinz Riedle, but his most impressive performance was destroying Zidane. The Frenchman was only 12 months after winning the World Cup and the Ballon d'Or, but the shot had made a man who had become immortal, quite mortal.
He said to The Guardian earlier: “I was mentally strong. Playing for large crowds never tore me, playing against big players never surprised me. I grew up in a hard environment with my mother and daddy, nothing tore me. I have my football side and my family side compartmentalized. I was never one to show weakness.
“I'm sure some people would call it unhealthy. You put a mask on things. My father would always say:” You have more faces than Mike Yarwood, Paul. ” People say, “You have marked Zidane from the game.” But I was part of a great team, we did the whole thing together.
“The thing about Zidane, he drives your shoulder. He often goes away from the ball, almost binding you. But the ball is not the danger, it is. Zidane has put me on the back a few times because he is brilliant. But he is not going to evaporate, is he?
“After the final, Juventus wanted to sign me, but there was no way I moved. Franz Beckenbauer asked me if I would be interested in coming to Bayern. I had everything at Dortmund.”
That would turn out to be Lambert's with the German side for a few years, because his family situation led him to return home, but his place in history was confirmed because he was called the man of the match.