Dortmund is facing up to its second ever Champions League final, having won its only previous final. Jürgen Klopp’s players are looking back to the Dortmund team that made history under the guidance of Ottmar Hitzfeld, with the side featuring such players as Sammer, Kholer, Möller, Riedle or Chapuisa, who went on to become legends.

The German side was approaching the game after a long stagnant period, with improvement finally arriving when Hitzfeld joined in 1991. With two league titles in Switzerland to his name, the German coach made Stephan Chapuisat his first addition to the squad. The Swiss player was followed into Dortmund by a number of German greats that had emigrated to Italy in search of success.

Stefan Reuter, who signed from Juve, was the first. The ‘Vecchia Signora’ then continued to supply Dortmund in successive years, with the arrival of Möller, Julio César, Jürgen Kholer… but the decisive figure arrived from Inter Milan. Matthias Sammer, who had moved to Italy to replace Matthäus, reinvented himself as a sweeper in a five man defence, ensuring a smooth transition out of defence with his exquisite touch and elegant reading of the game. The German went on to win the Ballon d’Or in 1996.

Then the big final came. It was 28th May 1997, at the Olympic stadium in Munich, and the Juventus side featuring Zidane, Deschamps, Boksic and Vieri was the clear favourite for the title. The Dortmund players went on to do their team’s colours proud with an epic performance and an outstanding result.

On Saturday, at Wembley, Klopp’s team will try to take that final step of a journey that has taken them over 15 years.

According to Marca