Nottingham Forest entertain the side they memorably defeated to lift their first European Cup title in 1979 as Malmo FF visit the City Ground in the Europa League on Thursday.
Sean Dyche's side enter the contest buoyed by their resounding 3-0 triumph over Liverpool at Anfield and Forest will be looking to emulate Brian Clough's team of 46 years ago by conquering their Swedish opponent on the continental stage.
As the two clubs prepare to reacquaint, we've looked back at the previous meetings between Nottingham Forest and Malmo FF, including that famous night in Munich.
1979 European Cup final
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Malmo FF
Upon Brian Clough's arrival in 1975, Nottingham Forest were an unfashionable club languishing in the middle of the second tier. Advance three years and the East Midlands outfit were First Division champions, stamping their authority on the domestic scene and looking to extend their powers beyond the English Channel.
Remembered as the Miracle Men, Forest's path to the 1979 European Cup final began with a daunting first round clash against defending two-time European champions Liverpool, whose fans were already booking flights and hotels in Munich for the final.
Clough's side revelled in the challenge and the emerging Garry Birtles, a £2,000 signing from Long Eaton United who worked as a carpet-fitter, ensured they held a two-goal advantage for the return leg at Anfield. Everybody anticipated Liverpool to concoct a route back into the contest, but stood in their path was the impassable Peter Shilton, who kept the Reds at bay.
Resounding successes over AEK Athens and Grasshoppers followed before a semi-final tie against German champions FC Köln awaited them. Once again Forest's chances were dismissed, but after an enthralling 3-3 draw at the City Ground, Ian Bowyer’s goal in Cologne saw the Tricky Trees advance to their first European Cup final where Malmo FF would be the opponents.
The build-up to the showpiece was dominated by availability. Malmo were without midfielder Bo Larsson and defender Roy Andersson, two of their most influential players, and the Swedish club's woes were compounded when Staffan Tapper broke his toe on the eve of the final. Forest, on the other hand, could finally award a European debut to Britain’s first £1 million footballer, Trevor Francis.
So it was only fitting that, after 45 minutes in which the East Midlands club had dictated proceedings, Francis would pop up at the far post in first half injury time to head John Robertson's delightful cross into the roof of the net.
It proved to be the match-winning moment, with Francis repaying the lavish sum forked out to sign him from Birmingham City and etching his name into Forest folklore.
“It wasn’t a great game but they were the boring team, Malmo," Clough described after the match. "In fact, the Swedes are quite a boring nation. But we still won, so who cares?"
Robertson, Viv Anderson, Martin O’Neill, Ian Bowyer and Tony Woodcock all featured on the journey from Second Division obscurity to the zenith of European club football, and the eccentric Clough was the mastermind.
Forest's heroics continued in the subsequent season, retaining their status as continental kings after defeating Kevin Keegan's Hamburg 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
1995 UEFA Cup first round
1st Leg: Malmo FF 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Malmo's sole victory against English opposition arrived on 12th September 1995 when the Allsvenskan club gained a small slice of revenge for their European Cup final defeat to Forest 16 years earlier.
Frank Clark's side were rocked in the early stages following the withdrawal of skipper Stuart Pearce, but they soon imposed themselves on the contest and were ahead after 36 minutes when Ian Woan, currently assistant to Sean Dyche at the City Ground, broke the deadlock.
Malmo had other ideas in the second half and they wrestled the tie back in their favour when Olof Persson, who is coincidentally an assistant coach to Anes Mravac at the Eleda Stadion, restored parity before Anders Andersson struck the winner 18 minutes from the end.
2nd Leg: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Malmo FF
Returning to Nottinghamshire with a precious away goal, Forest made home advantage count in the return leg to book their passage to the second round of the UEFA Cup.
Bryan Roy was the hero of the night, with the Dutch forward latching onto a loose backwards header and surging forward before firing into the top left corner.
Forest later conquered two French opponents in Auxerre and Olympique Lyonnais before they were assigned a quarter-final tie against the might of Bayern Munich, who flaunted players like Jurgen Klinsmann, Oliver Kahn and Lothar Matthaus.
Steve Chettle emulated Trevor Francis by scoring in the same end of Munich's Olympiastadion and while they returned from Bavaria only trailing by one, Clark's men were ultimately humbled 5-1 in the second leg.
The 1995/96 campaign was Forest's last on the European scene until they achieved Europa League qualification under Nuno Espirito Santo last term.
