Masterclass 2 min read

Paulo Sousa II

Paulo Sousa II
Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images for The Coaches' Voice
Author
Tony Hodson
Published on
January 19 2022

UEFA Champions League Final, May 28 1997

Borussia Dortmund 3Juventus 1

Riedle (29, 34)
Ricken (71)

Del Piero (65)

Twelve months after winning the Champions League with Juventus, Paulo Sousa found himself in another Champions League final featuring The Old Lady – this time while representing Borussia Dortmund. Among those sold as the European champions built an expensive new team led by an attack of Zinedine Zidane, Alen Boksic and Christian Vieri, Sousa had declared upon arriving in Germany that his intention was to again win the most prized trophy in club football.

In the unique position of knowing so many of his former teammates' strengths, Sousa and midfield partner Paul Lambert combined to contain the influential Zidane. A similarly effective substitution from Dortmund manager Ottmar Hitzfeld was ultimately what gave his team an unassailable lead. Speaking exclusively to The Coaches' Voice in the second of his two Masterclass features, Sousa recounts the many qualities of what remains the most successful team in Dortmund's history – one built on some of Germany's greatest ever players.

Starting line-ups
Borussia DortmundJuventus
1166151719101479131524131471821159
Borussia Dortmund3-4-1-2
Juventus4-diamond-2
1Stefan Klos
1Angelo Peruzzi
15Jürgen Kohler
5Sergio Porrini
6Matthias Sammer
2Ciro Ferrara
16Martin Kree
4Paolo Montero
7Stefan Reuter
13Mark Iuliano
17Jörg Heinrich
14Didier Deschamps
14Paul Lambert
7Angelo Di Livio
19Paulo Sousa
18Vladimir Jugovic
10Andreas Möller
21Zinedine Zidane
13Karl-Heinz Riedle
15Christian Vieri
9Stéphane Chapuisat
9Alen Boksic