From Dortmund to Liverpool: Karl-Heinz Riedle's journey

Fresh from scoring two goals in the 1997 Champions League final - where Dortmund ran out 3-1 winners over Juventus in Munich - a summer of change followed.

With manager Omar Hitzfeld having stepping aside at the end of the 1996-97 season, Riedle began to assess his options following the arrival of new coach Nevio Scala.

Indeed, it was while in Switzerland during pre-season preparations, the striker then heard about interest in him from Liverpool.

And the second the German registered the information, his mind was made up in an instant.

"It changed a lot because he [Scala] had different ideas and he wanted to bring Italian players, Brazilian players in," Riedle told Liverpoolfc.com.

"I realised quite quickly that this might not a good thing between him and me. Then the offer for Liverpool was there and I was really happy to go to England.

"I wasn't disappointed because as a player you can feel [things aren’t right] when you get a new coach. Then I get this offer from Liverpool and I said to the club 'OK this is something that maybe comes once in a lifetime'.

"From my point of view, Liverpool was a dream to play for one day. I asked if it was OK and the club said 'no problem'.

"I didn't have to think twice."

Reds boss Roy Evans wanted Riedle, then a 31-year-old, to add some much-needed experience to a Liverpool frontline that featured Robbie Fowler and an emerging youngster called Michael Owen.

The 18-year-old’s rapid development perhaps hindered Riedle's opportunities in his two years as a Red, but, even still, he has fond memories of his time at Anfield.

"From the first minute we [Evans and I] understood each other and it was brilliant," the 50-year-old continued.

"Roy told me straight away that Robbie Fowler was a fixed player and then he said 'I have a really young player who is good', this was Michael Owen!

"On the first day I said to him 'Roy, you should have told me he's not a good player, he's a massive player!'

"For me, though, it wasn't a problem. I loved to play for the club and to give my attributes for the club."

Riedle is the most recent player to have been involved in a transfer between the two clubs, and he was part of a Dortmund team that enjoyed a rich period of success in his four years at the club.

The German joined the Bundesliga outfit in the summer of the 1993, in a high-profile move from Italian side Lazio.

Having reaching the UEFA Cup final the year before, Dortmund were rewarded with an influx of cash and used their new resources to build a team that could compete with Europe’s elite.

Riedle was just one of a number of star-studded signings throughout the fruitful period.

He recalls: "It was before the World Cup '94 and Berti Vogts, our national coach in this time, came to me and said 'If you want to be in the lineup then I want to see you every weekend in the Bundesliga'.

"Then there was an offer from Borussia Dortmund and Lazio were thinking about it.

"We had four foreigners and only three could play. Sometimes Paul Gascoigne was out, sometimes I was out and they kept rotating the team.

"I said maybe this would be a chance for me and it was a really good offer from Dortmund.

“[They were] a good club in this time because they had invested a lot of money in players and they had a big aim to win the title. In the end, it was a good decision for myself."

Although he admits not everything was as rosy at the start of the journey.

“I was injured a lot of times, like never in my career before," Riedle - who now works as an ambassador for Dortmund - reveals. “At Lazio I wasn't injured for three years, maybe one or two times but something small."

Following the initial teething pains, glory then ensued as the side won two league championships and a European Cup within four years.

Their success was epitomised at the Olympiastadion when the underdogs took down a supreme Old Lady side that featured Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps.

“It was unbelievable for every player,” Riedle reflects. “We didn't expect to beat Juventus because they were like the Barcelona in our time now.

“Normally you could not win against [them] but we were quite lucky in the beginning and survived two really close shots.

“Then we had two magic moments. It was phenomenal for the whole club.

“They took a lot of risk in this time. My fee was very high for Dortmund - they had never invested so much money in players. If it wouldn't have been so successful, maybe it would have been a problem."

Having experienced both clubs throughout his lengthy career, Riedle is qualified to agree with the notion that the two institutions share familiar traits.

"They are quite similar. Both are very emotional, close to the players and they love the players.

"For them [the supporters] it's like a religion and I always enjoyed this." he concludes.