Borussia Dortmund: Remembering the 1997 Champions League winning team
By Tushar Bahl
It has been over 21 years since Borussia Dortmund’s only Champions League triumph. So let us take a trip down memory lane and see how the Black and Yellows made history in 1997.
Borussia Dortmund went into the season having won back to back Bundesliga titles under legendary manager Ottmar Hitzfield. But no one would have thought that the Black and Yellows would be the European champions come the end of the season.
Hitzfield had assembled a formidable lineup at Borussia Dortmund, led by defender Matthias Sammer. The defender won the 1996 Ballon d’Or, becoming the only Dortmund player to ever win the award. Club legends Stefan Reuter, Jurgen Kohler and Jorg Heinrich joined Sammer in the back four. While new signings Paolo Sousa and Paul Lambert slotted in the middle of the park. Dortmund’s attack was led by the likes of Andreas Moller, Heinz Riedle and Stephane Chapuisat.
While Dortmund had a strong team on paper, it was pretty tame compared to some of the teams they went on to defeat in the Champions League.
Dortmund finished second in their Champions League group behind Atletico Madrid, to set up a quarter-final tie against French club Auxerre. The Black and Yellows dispatched them comfortably to progress to the semi finals, where they would take on Manchester United. The Red Devils were themselves looking to build a team worthy of winning the UEFA Champions League, and led by Sir Alex Ferguson, they were a force to be reckoned with. However, Dortmund secured a 2-0 aggregate win over the English giants to secure their passage to the Champions League final, where they would face Juventus.
The Final
The Old Lady was a European powerhouse in the late 90s. Their squad contained some of Europe’s best players including Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Alessandro del Piero and Christian Vieri. Juventus had just beaten Dortmund in the UEFA Cup final four years before, and experts predicted that Der BVB would taste defeat yet again.
Juventus started the game on the front foot and dominated right from kick-off. However, at the half hour mark, Dortmund surprised the Old Lady to take the lead thanks to Karl Heinz Riedle. After a corner was cleared by Juventus, Paul Lambert crossed the ball back into the box. Riedle reacted before anyone else and gave Dortmund the lead from six yards out.
Five minutes later, Riedle struck again, this time with a header from a corner. Juventus were stunned and Dortmund were on cloud nine. Juventus weren’t done yet however. The Italians came close to scoring multiple times, before eventually finding the back of the net in the 64th minute. Half time substitute Alessandro del Piero cut the deficit in half to give Juventus fans hope.
But seven minutes later, 20-year-old Dortmund academy product Lars Ricken sealed the win with a fine chip, just 20 seconds after coming on from the bench. Juventus could not muster up another come back and Borussia Dortmund sealed a historic win. It was almost unimaginable that Borussia Dortmund would win the UEFA Champions League. But Hitzfield’s men were unstoppable at Olympiastadion in Munich.
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What followed in the next decade was unfortunate and heartbreaking for Borussia Dortmund. But no one can take away this historic and remarkable triumph from the black and yellows. That season represented everything the club stands for. It was a fairytale season with a fairytale ending. And one can only hope that the famous trophy will return to the Westfalenstadion once again in the future.