But 40 years ago, there was no special music to announce arguably the biggest upset in the tournament's history. The winners were Nottingham Forest, who only a few years before had been languishing in Division Two of the Football League in England. Forest were managed by Brian Clough, still considered one of the greatest in the history of the game.

Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor had been in partnership for much of their managerial careers. Their unorthodox approach became the stuff of legend. "The arrival of Peter Taylor switched him on 100 per cent," club captain John McGovern recalled for a documentary about Clough made in 2009.

Could it happen today? Probably not. Leicester City's FA Premier League success and Champions’ League adventure owed much to the benevolence of their late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha but the exploits of Forest to, not only to win the trophy, but also to retain it, deserve the accolades all these years later.

In 1992 the competition was re-branded as the UEFA Champions League and in the 21st century Real Madrid and Barcelona have dominated. But Milan, Bayern Munich, Internazionale, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Porto have all had their names engraved on that famous trophy.

In 1978, the idea of a Premier League in England was still pie in the sky. The Football League Championship, established in 1888, was the ultimate prize. Liverpool had been the dominant force in English football but in 1977-1978, Forest had set the seal on their first season back in the top flight after promotion by lifting first the Football League Cup, beating Liverpool in the final. Then, even more astonishingly, they won the league title itself.

The club even recorded a single. It was produced by Barry Mason and John Fiddy and recorded with Paper Lace, who had had a hit with Billy Don't be a Hero. The song was called We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands. The lyrics included the line "stand up and sing for Cloughie the King".

To judge by the evidence of the video which accompanied the record, "Cloughie the King" wasn't too keen on being a pop star but he was was very aware of the financial position of his club which didn't always attract capacity crowds, even in these golden years.

"We've got to win something every year and qualify for Europe," Clough said. "We've spent one million pounds on a player and are going ahead with our super stand at two and half million."

Trevor Francis was the player in question, the fee over £1,180,000 ($1,544,000/€1,348,000).

Clough had also splashed out around £270,000 (£354,000/€308,000), then a huge fee for a goalkeeper, to bring Peter Shilton to the club.

Only the champions of each nation were allowed to take part in the European Champions Cup in those days. Second, third, and sometimes fourth or fifth in the domestic league would earn a place in the UEFA Cup and that year, the mighty Barcelona only qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup.

There were no preliminary group stages, only straight knock-out, each tie home and away.

In the 1978-1979 competition England had two representatives because Liverpool had won the European Cup the previous season and qualified as holders.

"We would like to blaze a trail for English football," said Clough.

The two English representatives came out of the pot together in the first round draw. Nowadays there would be an elaborate seeding mechanism to prevent such an anomaly but it meant that although champions, Forest now started their European campaign as underdogs. They won the first leg 2-0 and drew at Anfield to knock out Liverpool, many people's favourites to win the trophy for a third successive year.

It was not the only shock in that season's competition. Glasgow Rangers eliminated Juventus and, later in the tournament, Swiss club Grasshoppers of Zurich knocked out Real Madrid.

When the players returned to European action after the usual winter hiatus, the weather had taken its toll on the playing surfaces making each match a test of endurance as much as of football skill.

The draw for the last eight of the Europe's top competition included Forest, Cologne from West Germany but also sides from Austria, East Germany, Poland Scotland, Sweden and Switzerland.

In the quarter finals, Forest were drawn against Grasshoppers.

"Until now, all we knew about Nottingham was the story of Robin Hood," said Swiss striker Claudio Sulser, who, it transpired, was doing a part-time law degree in his native land.

Sulser gave Grasshoppers the lead at the City Ground with a deft finish but, despite his efforts, Forest won the tie convincingly.

In the semi-finals Forest were drawn against Cologne. Their manager was Hennes Weisweiler, a man revered in European coaching circles.

Cologne shocked Forest by scoring two goals early in the match. Things looked bad for Forest and, though they rallied, the match ended 3-3. This gave the German side three priceless away goals.

"We are despondent not going to Cologne with a lead but far from out of any competition," said Clough immediately after the match. "I hope anybody's not stupid enough to write us off."

Very few agreed. The match was a nerve shreddingly close affair and just one goal from Ian Bowyer was enough to decide the tie. Incredibly, Nottingham Forest were in the European Cup final.

"Our team was psychologically perfect," said Clough.

"It is the greatest night of our lives to reach the final," said Taylor. "This is superior to winning the League Championship."

What they did not admit until much later was that the team were exhausted after playing so many matches in the season. Playing squads were much smaller than today.

In the final, Forest were to meet Malmo of Sweden. They were another unfashionable club which had astonished the continent with their progress. They were managed by an Englishman called Bob Houghton and had made the most of meagre resources.

Taylor did much of the talking to the media before the final in Munich. This was because Clough was on a pre-arranged family holiday in Crete and only jetted in shortly before the match.

"Forest seldom disappoint the public," Taylor promised before the match. "My only prediction is there will be plenty of goals." 

It was in fact one of the few things that he got wrong that year.

In fact the only goal of the final came via a diving header from Francis, who had caused such headlines with his transfer.

It was a remarkable achievement. The following year, playing as holders of the trophy, Forest confounded the pundits once again by retaining it.

They remain the only team to have won the European Cup on more occasions than their national league.

Although Clough remained at the helm into the 1990s, this proved the high water mark. Forest's recent appointment of Martin O'Neill, a member of those two European Cup-winning sides, as manager in recent weeks seems a clear attempt to evoke the spirit of this period 40 years ago.

The crowd used to chant, "We all agree, Nottingham Forest are magic". 

Many will feel they actually were.