[citation needed] Celtic manager Jock Stein and his team received acclaim after the match and were given the nickname the "Lisbon Lions"; this is considered to be the greatest side in the club's history.

Celtic qualified for the European Cup after winning the 1965–66 Scottish Division One, their 21st title, by two points over Old Firm rivals Rangers.

[3] In the semi-finals, Czechoslovakian side Dukla Prague were beaten 3–1 in Glasgow, Johnstone put the hosts in front, before Stanislav Štrunc equalised.

[2][4] Inter Milan had qualified for the competition as champions of the 1965–66 Serie A, their tenth title, finishing four points ahead of runners-up Bologna.

Their second round opponents were Vasas of Hungary, Inter won 2–1 at home, with goals from Carlo Soldo and Mario Corso, while Lajos Puskás had scored for the visitors.

Facchetti scored again in Bulgaria, but his goal was cancelled out by Nikolay Radlev, meaning that a play-off was needed to settle the tie.

The play-off was supposed to be held in Graz, Austria, but CSKA were persuaded to let it be moved to Bologna in Italy, after they were offered a larger share of the gate money.

Pre-match talk focused on Inter winning a famous tripletta of European Cups and they were considered strong favourites going into the game.

He was in such good form for Celtic that, despite missing half the season, McBride finished as the top scorer in Scotland that year with 35 goals in 26 appearances.

[12] Inter's most important player, Spanish international and Ballon d'Or winner Luis Suarez, missed the match with an injury.

He was replaced by veteran Mauro Bicicli, a player with very few appearances in the season, and the loss of their star in the middle of the field would prove decisive in shaping Inter's destiny in the match.

Only a few days before the final Inter had been on the verge of winning a historic treble but losses in their last two games knocked them out of the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and cost them the Scudetto.

[15][16] Inter had the first attack of the match, with Renato Cappellini running down the wing and supplying a cross to Sandro Mazzola whose header hit Celtic goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson's knees.

Tommy Gemmell's dangerous free-kick was saved by Sarti, he then speculatively attempted to lob the Inter 'keeper and hit the bar.

After just over an hour, Gemmell finally managed to equalise for Celtic when Craig passed to him from the right wing and he scored with a powerful 25 yard shot.

[22] Celtic captain Billy McNeill had to be ushered around the outside of the stadium under armed guards to receive the trophy on a podium in the stand.

They had been one of the top teams in Europe for the previous three years, however, failed to recover from their bad season in which they lost out to Celtic as well as in their two domestic competitions.

[23] They finished the following season trophyless again and Helenio Herrera, the manager who was considered to be the catalyst of their success, then left the club.

[25] Stein is considered by many, including Alex Ferguson, to be the greatest ever Scottish manager, with his victory in the final being one of the main reasons for this.