There is no doubt Sir Alex saw himself in Jock Stein which inspired Aberdeen's Gothenburg heroes - Archie Macpherson

I remember the hug most of all. It happened only five minutes after the final whistle on the rain-sodden Gothenburg pitch itself.

The man I knew simply as Fergie then, advanced towards me with the kind of beaming gladiatorial smile that denoted a lion had been slain. Real Madrid had been taken care of. Indeed, their white shirts that normally exuded iconic supremacy looked at the end merely like items that were tarnished beyond repair not just by the muddy pitch but by Aberdeen’s unbreakable self-belief that had been generated by the most exciting managerial talent of that generation.

Fergie’s joy unbounded, we embraced on the field to such an extent I found myself lifting him off his feet in a celebration that is as irreparably embedded in my memory as much as our spectacular fall-out some years later. I was lucky to be there. I regretted that ITV had exclusive rights to the commentary but rather than being left out in the cold, BBC Breakfast Time collared me to travel to the Final to report as widely as I could and above all to nab Fergie for interview if they were to win.

Which meant away from the commentary platform I could view the game from just behind the Aberdeen bench watching Fergie’s balletic performance reflecting somersaulting emotions – ranging from a corkscrew-like spin in the air when Eric Black opened the scoring in only seven minutes, to a dismissive shrug of the shoulders at the Juanito penalty equaliser seven minutes later.

And ultimately in extra-time a Nureyev vault into the air at John Hewitt’s diving, swooping winning header. Thereafter came my pitch invasion and the hug.

I had commentated on all Aberdeen’s European games from their famous 3-2 victory over Bayern at Pittodrie in the