He spent 12 years of his professional career with Bayern Munich, appearing in more than 300 official games and winning 19 major titles, notably seven Bundesliga championships and the 2001 Champions League.

Born in Bad Salzungen, East Germany, Zickler began his career with Dynamo Dresden, having joined the club's youth system in 1980 as a six-year-old.

In the campaign's UEFA Champions League final, against Valencia CF, he entered the game as a substitute and successfully converted his penalty kick in the shootout, which ended in win.

[5][6] In June 2005, Zickler tried his chances at Austrian Bundesliga's FC Red Bull Salzburg, signing on a "performance-related" deal[7] alongside former Bayern teammate Thomas Linke.

In the 2006–07 campaign, in the return leg of the Champions League second qualifying round, Zickler scored through a penalty to give the Red Bulls a 2–0 victory over FC Zürich and advance them into the next stage, where they lost to Valencia.