[7] An enthusiast in several sports from a young age,[8][9] Lizarazu began his professional career with Bordeaux, joining the club's youth setup as a 15-year-old in 1984 and initially playing as a winger.

[8][9] After being told he would not make a career from football due to his frail physicality as a teenager,[9] he impressed the staff with his determination and became a member of the senior squad in 1988[8] alongside forward Christophe Dugarry.

He was retrained to play as a counter-attacking left-back at the suggestion of coach Didier Couécou[9] and soon replaced the veteran Gernot Rohr (later to be the club's manager) in the position.

[9] Following UEFA Euro 1996, in which Dugarry, Zidane and Lizarazu were part of the French squad which reached the semi-finals,[10] the three moved abroad seeking a new challenge: Zidane joining Juventus, Dugarry going to Milan[9] and Lizarazu staying local but changing nations by moving to Athletic Bilbao, based the same distance from his home in the French Basque Country as Bordeaux.

[citation needed] Lizarazu spent just one season with the La Liga club after becoming the first Frenchman to play for Athletic,[8][12] which has a policy of selecting only players of Basque birth or heritage.

[13] Suffering from a persistent groin injury,[9] he was unable to displace the experienced Aitor Larrazábal at left-back, received two red cards among the 16 league appearances he did make, and had disagreements with the head coach, compatriot Luis Fernández.

[8] It was the start of a highly successful spell in Bavaria,[14] despite the interruption of some serious injuries,[8] as he went on to win six Bundesliga championships (including three in a row between 1999 and 2001), as well as five DFB-Pokals, the Champions League in 2001[8] (scoring his penalty in the shootout),[5] and the Intercontinental Cup.

[8] During his second spell with Bayern, ending in 2006 when he gave way to the emerging Philipp Lahm,[8] Lizarazu wore the shirt number 69; clarifying that it was not a lewd gesture, he said this was because he was born in 1969, his height is 1.69 m and he weighed 69 kg.

[8] Regarded by pundits as one of the best left-backs of his generation, Lizarazu was an attacking full-back or wing-back, who was known for his passing, technique, pace, stamina, and his ability to get up the flank and provide accurate crosses from the touch-line.