Paul Lambert has revealed how he got his dream Champions League draw but faces a nightmare when it comes to club loyalties.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund and Celtic midfield legend watched as his two former clubs were put on a collision course in the inaugural Champions League league phase.  Last season's Champions League runners-up will entertain the Scottish champions at the 81,000-capacity Signal Iduna Park. Lambert knows it will be a wonderful occasion but he fully expects his emotions to be torn all over the place and his nerves to be placed in the shredder.

The 55-year-old is still held in the highest regard in his adopted home of Dortmund after he helped the club to their one and only Champions League success in 1997. It is also Lambert's biggest career regret to date that he doesn't own two European winners' medals after Martin O'Neill's Celtic fell short when they fell short in the UEFA Cup final against Porto in 2003.

Lambert admits that he can't wait for the famous 'Yellow Wall' to meet the 'sea of green and white'. However, he insists that the best outcome he can hope for is a cracking contest that ends with a share of the spoils.

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He said: "Borussia Dortmund v Celtic is going to be a fantastic spectacle. They are two of the most passionate sets of supporters in world football. The yellow wall will meet a sea of green and white and the colours will bounce off each other. For the neutral, it will be a cracking game.

"There will be 81,000 in the Signal Iduna Arena on that night and the atmosphere will be electric. It is a cauldron and it is a special place just like Celtic Park. There are few better arenas in football than Dortmund and Glasgow on a European night.

"Personally, it was the dream tie for me but it will be a nightmare in terms of my loyalties. I am telling you right now I want the game to end in a draw! I have an affinity with both of those fantastic football clubs and I couldn't possibly choose one over the other.

"It's a tough one that way because both of those clubs have been great to me during my career. A draw would be the ideal scenario and result for me. That will keep everybody happy. 

"Dortmund were the Champions League runners-up last season. This will be a tough fixture for Celtic away from home but one thing is for sure it will be a brilliant occasion and a great event."

Some have argued that the Champions League draw was kind to Celtic as they avoided many of the Champions League big guns. However, Lambert insists that Celtic have been in such European movies before and failed to do themselves justice at the elite level of club competition.

The 40 times-capped Scotland star admits that the new Champions League league phase offers Celtic a real chance of advancing to the knockout phase, especially with four games at home but Lambert reckons that nobody should be under any illusion as to the calibre of team they will face with last season's Europa League winners Atalanta and English Premier League side Aston Villa also lying in wait.

Lambert said: "I don't subscribe to the notion that this is a good draw for Celtic in the Champions League or an easier draw. There is no such thing as easier games at this level.

"There is this Scottish mentality that says just because you play in front of 60,000 fans and the opposition draws say 30,000 supporters that you must beat them. It doesn't happen like that as you are constantly up against really good teams with excellent players.

"Everybody says every year that the Champions League draw has been kind to Celtic and that they should be beating teams like Shakhtar Donetsk, RB Leipzig and the likes of Feyenoord in European competition. I know they beat Feyenoord last season but they only managed that when it was too late to qualify from the group.

"European football doesn't work like that. It never has and it never will. Martin O'Neill's team were criticised for getting beaten by Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup final. Porto won the Champions League a year later.

"Granted the new format gives clubs like Celtic a fighting chance of qualifying as they will play eight games instead of six. That alone gives Celtic a chance to improve on their points tally especially as they will have four games at home. Celtic can somehow use the new format to their advantage by winning their home games.

"However, Celtic's record in Europe has not been good enough for the last while in terms of the level that they can compete against. They haven't given themselves a chance as they have only gained a handful of points from the previous two Champions League groups they were drawn in.

"All of those teams in Celtic's section who are not an elite level club themselves will be thinking the same thing that they have a chance to reach the knockout phase. The elite teams will always be strong in this competition but the clubs who are a level below them and in the same bracket as Celtic know that this is a golden opportunity to achieve something special."

(Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey)

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Lambert is adamant that success on the European stage is the box that remains unticked for Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

The Irishman has dominated domestically in both spells in charge of the club and has nine trophies to his name thus far but he is aware that it is Rodgers who wants to restore some of Celtic's battered pride, honour and prestige in the greatest club competition on earth.

Lambert said: "Celtic as a club needs to make progress in Europe. They do. They are dominating domestically and everything is going along well. Brendan Rodgers is at the stage where he wants Celtic to make their mark in Europe. The Celtic supporters crave that more than anything.

"The Champions League is the best club competition in world football. Everybody wants to win it. The top players are desperate to get their hands on that trophy as it is a really tough competition to win because the standards are so high.

"I went to the Champions League final at Wembley between Dortmund and Real Madrid and my former club are the width of a post from going 1-0 up. Real Madrid then scored from a header following a corner kick courtesy of one of the smallest guys on the pitch!

"That is the level Celtic are playing at.

"Brendan is the manager who wants to put an end to the days of Celtic finishing bottom of their section with a few points.

"Celtic are back in at that level and they have to go for it. They cannot go to places like Dortmund and sit in and defend as they are not good enough to play that kind of football. There will be no room for errors for Celtic that's for sure. They have to be disciplined in every Champions League game and every big player for Celtic has to stand up.

"Celtic are going to have to earn every point they get in the Champions League from the league phase."