Paul Lambert: the Celtic icon who was a legend at Borussia Dortmund
He wasn't expected to get a starting place at the beginning of his season at Borussia Dortmund, yet Paul Lambert finished it with Zinedine Zidane in his pocket as his side claimed UEFA Champions League glory. bundesliga.com reflects on the Scot's incredible story...
Lambert took a leap into the unknown in summer 1996. He had two Scotland caps to his name from friendlies, and he was well regarded in his domestic league, yet with his side, Motherwell, finishing eighth in the 10-team Premier Division in 1995/96, it felt like time for a new challenge.
A recent European ruling allowing footballers to switch clubs for free when out of contract combined with an enterprising agent and Lambert's openness saw him take a plane to the continent - with no idea where his final destination would be.
A trial with PSV Eindhoven didn't work out as the Dutch side wanted to deploy the tough-tackling midfielder as a winger. Dortmund then offered Lambert another opportunity - one that he would not only seize, but use to celebrate the greatest ever moment in club history.
Lambert came to Germany with the advantage that he had faced the then Bundesliga champions before - in a two-legged 1994/95 UEFA Cup tie, which gave coach Ottmar Hitzfeld the chance to gain a solid initial impression of his tireless style.
Dortmund's dependable defensive midfielder Steffen Freund was expected to miss most of the season with a cruciate ligament injury sustained during Euro 1996. With the Scot confirming in the pre-season Fuji Cup tournament that he was someone who could be called on to do exactly as a coach wanted, he was promptly given a contract by the Black and Yellows.
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The opening match of the 1996/97 season was a personal success for Lambert, despite Borussia losing 4-2 at Bayer Leverkusen. The new signing played through the full 90 minutes and netted his first - and only - Bundesliga goal in the first period.
Lambert himself has said that two realisations dawned in a 4-0 win in the second match of the season at home to Fortuna Düsseldorf - that he was right at home in the team and that Dortmund had the quality to achieve remarkable things.
The BVB side of the time had several players who featured in Germany's Euro 1996-winning team, after all, with the eventual winner of that year's Ballon d'Or, Matthias Sammer, just one of its stars.
Lambert was impressed by the culture of the squad as much of the talent, telling Football 365: “They trained the way they played. They were world-class players. They never held back or took it easy. They were right on it. It was a great habit to learn. That’s why they were great players."
The Scot's greatest praise is reserved for Hitzfeld though, who he says: "I had a great time under him. He taught me so much about the discipline of the game. He was a great manager; really clever and really calm."
The respect was mutual, with Hitzfeld later saying: "No one expected him to become a key player, but he did. What was most critical is that Paul was a very good team player. After a defeat, he was one of those who knew how to address a situation or any problem."
The hard-grafting mentality that the coach and his new midfielder shared created a match made in heaven - and helped to take Dortmund to the very summit of the game.
The Black and Yellows landed in third place in the 1996/97 Bundesliga having won the previous two titles. They showed their class on the European stage, comfortably progressing from their Champions League group and seeing off Auxerre 4-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
A legendary showdown ensued in the semi-finals against Manchester United. With injury problems that had plagued Dortmund all season flaring up ahead of the first leg, Lambert had to be on full alert to shield the defence against a side featuring Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs. He helped them keep a clean sheet, while Rene Tretschok was the unlikely matchwinner with a deflected shot.
Lambert and Dortmund repeated the feet in a tense second leg in Manchester, as they survived a wave of pressure to snatch another 1-0 victory thanks to a Lars Ricken strike. Dortmund's spot in the final at Munich's Olympiastadion was secured.
Marcelo Lippi's Juventus were strongly favoured to win the final. And after Zidane's technical mastery had given the Italian outfit the best of the opening phase, it took a wise move on the pitch between Lambert and one of his fellow midfielders to change the course of the game - and etch their place in history.
"The first 20 minutes were really tough for us," Paulo Sousa, who joined Dortmund in summer 1996 like Lambert, told Sky Sports. "Juventus pushed us. I took one decision on the pitch with Paul Lambert. We decided that he would take care of Zidane and I would take care of the rest of the midfield. It worked. It had a big impact."
Lambert added: "We spoke during the game to change it. The two of us looked at it. Zidane was playing on the other side to where I was. Paulo and I switched it because that allowed Paulo the freedom to do what he wanted to do. It gave me the role that I was used to doing."
Lambert's performance would go down in football history as a textbook example of man-marking as the phenomenal Frenchman was kept in check throughout the encounter. The Scot also hit a cross for Karl-Heinz Riedle to net what would be the first of three Dortmund goals as they emerged as kings of Europe with a 3-1 triumph.
Lambert was the man on Hitzfeld's lips when asked by FourFourTwo some 25 years later about the match. The coach, who later won a second Champions League crown with Bayern Munich, said: "We put in a superb performance. Paul Lambert was incredible and had Zidane in his pocket. He was a player with a really simple playing style, no tricks but you would struggle to find anyone who worked as hard as Lambert. We managed to nullify Juventus’s game and we had the fortune we needed too."
Lambert became the first British player to ever become a European champion at a foreign club in the process. He was living the dream in Dortmund and wanted to stay despite attracting attention around Europe. But in autumn 1997, family circumstances made Lambert long to return to Scotland.
The midfielder made a final appearance in Dortmund on 5 November 1997 in a Champions League tie against Parma. The entire stadium stayed after the final whistle of the 2-0 win to salute Lambert as he bade farewell with an emotional lap of the pitch.
"He came as a nobody and departs as a fan favourite," said the commentator of German broadcaster RTL at the time. Lambert lately described leaving Dortmund as "the most difficult moment in my career".
Three days later, Lambert made his Celtic debut against Rangers at Ibrox as a substitute. He would go on to work his way firmly into the fans' hearts in Glasgow too, with four league titles along with leading Celtic into the 2003 UEFA Cup final as captain.
Lambert's 40 caps for Scotland included three appearances in the 1998 World Cup and a famous win away in Germany in 1999.
The man himself was in no doubt just how far his spell in Dortmund set him up for his later success, saying: "I had that fearless thing of knowing I had done it at the highest level, so if you're going to beat me you're going to have to match me or be better than me. That's what Borussia Dortmund did for me, catapulted me to that level. I could then handle playing in big games in front of big crowds. After that, nothing fazed me."
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