A defender in his own playing days, Happel knew the keys to victory lay further forward. “From midfield, the game unfolds,” intoned the Austrian, who snapped up Schalke’s Franz Hasil. Among the first of a new breed of central schemers, Happel’s compatriot moved effortlessly between the lines and quickly developed an understanding with Swedish striker Ove Kindvall, plus wide men Henk Wery and ‘Mr Feyenoord’ himself, livewire left-winger Coen Moulijn.

For many, Moulijn remains Feyenoord’s greatest player. For others, that honour goes to Van Hanegem, the heart of the team along with tenacious anchorman Wim Jansen. Ajax coach Michels had described Van Hanegem as“too slow and too one-dimensional” in 1968, but the curly-haired maestro soon had him eating his words with his pinpoint passing – typically delivered with the outside of his boot.

“I broke two toes and had to train in shoes that were four sizes too big,” explains Van Hanegem, nicknamed De Kromme (the Crooked One) for the unorthodox style and bandy-legged gait. “To make up for my deficiencies, I started kicking the ball with the outside of my foot.” He also had to cope with fading eyesight, later being diagnosed with 20% vision in one eye and 5% in the other. “You recognise the shirt but you don’t always know who it is. But kicking the ball is something you often do on feeling. It’s pretty much automatic.”

Incredibly, given those obstacles, Van Hanegem would eventually be regarded as equal in talent to Cruyff – if not the better player. Nowadays, his name is barely remembered abroad, but the debate raged during their peak years. “I stay out of that,” says Van Hanegem. His Ajax counterpart was more forthcoming: “Van Hanegem has one advantage over me. When I have a bad game, I’m useless. When Van Hanegem has a bad game, he rolls up his sleeves and starts tackling.”

That combination of skill and grit made Van Hanegem indispensable to Happel – which was just as well, given their rocky relationship. “We argued a lot,” recalls Van Hanegem. “Mostly on Tuesdays during fitness sessions. There was a lot of running and I didn’t find that pleasant, to be honest. I was kicked out of training a few times by him.”

Despite the friction, there was a deep respect, and Happel soon saw why his enigmatic No 10 was worth the trouble. Feyenoord had started their European Cup bid by swatting aside KR Reykjavík and they now faced a daunting second round showdown with holders AC Milan, who had beaten Ajax 4-1 in the 1969 final. But where Ajax had failed, Feyenoord prevailed, overturning a 1-0 loss at San Siro by winning 2-0 at home.

“Perhaps they thought that because they’d beaten Ajax, this would be a piece of cake,” suggests Van Hanegem, who was surprised to be tasked with marking the energetic Giovanni Lodetti, part of Happel’s masterplan to put Jansen on Rossoneri talisman Gianni Rivera. “I found that strange,” admits the reluctant runner, though it was Jansen who levelled the tie at De Kuip – and Van Hanegem who headed the late clincher.

The belief was flowing now, and Feyenoord’s home form carried them past Vorwärts Berlin and Legia Warszawa and into the final. That meant a return to San Siro for the showpiece, where Celtic awaited. The 1967 European champions. The favourites. A team still brimful of Lisbon Lions. But first Feyenoord had a domestic tussle with Ajax to contend with.