1996/97: Riedle makes Dortmund's day
Wednesday 28 May 1997
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Karl-Heinz Riedle (BV Borussia Dortmund) (©Getty Images)
BV Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Juventus
(Riedle 29 34, Ricken 71; Del Piero 65
Olympiastadion, Munich
BV Borussia Dortmund achieved what they had failed to do four years earlier when they beat Juventus in the 1997 UEFA Champions League final. For the match at Munich's Olympiastadion was a rerun of the climactic game of the 1993 UEFA Cup, which Dortmund had lost 6-1 on aggregate to the Italian side.
Hitzfeld example
By now former Juventus stars Julio César, Jürgen Kohler, Paulo Sousa and Andreas Möller had swapped sides and, crucially, brought that winning habit to the Westfalenstadion. This much was clear from the group stage, where Ottmar Hitzfeld's side took maximum points in four of six games against Club Atlético de Madrid, Widzew Lódz and FC Steaua Bucuresti. While they finished runners-up to the Spanish team on goal difference, it would be their last experience of second best.
United overcome
Dortmund's quarter-final opponents were AJ Auxerre, the competition debutants who had qualified from Group A along with AFC Ajax. Quick learners maybe, but BVB gave the French side a footballing lesson in a 4-1 aggregate success. The semi-final against Manchester United FC was another matter entirely - except in the outcome. The German side survived intense pressure at Old Trafford to repeat their 1-0 first-leg victory. Still the favourites' tag eluded Hitzfeld's team, remaining in Turin with Juventus.
Riedle's day
The Bianconeri had avoided becoming Rosenborg BK's second Serie A scalp after Milan AC, and then thumped Ajax 6-2 on aggregate in the semis. Yet the final followed the same pattern as its two previous editions, with defeat for the holders. Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice in the first half, Lars Ricken once in the second, making Alessandro Del Piero's late strike nothing more than a consolation.
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