Celtic manager Jock Stein: "Inter will play it defensively. That's their way and it's their business. But we feel we have a duty to play the game our way, and our way is to attack. Win or lose, we want to make the game worth remembering. Just to be involved in an occasion like this is a tremendous honour and we think it puts an obligation on us. We can be as hard and professional as anybody, but I mean it when I say that we don't just want to win this cup. We want to win it playing good football, to make neutrals glad we've done it, glad to remember how we did it."

What a tremendous time this is for Scottish football, surely a sign that our teams can impress in continental football for years to come. Only yesterday Kilmarnock lost out to Leeds United in the semi-final of the Fairs Cup and next week we can look forward to Rangers playing Bayern Munich in the final of the European Cup-Winners' Cup.

This "Grande Inter" team are led by the great Argentine football strategist Helenio Herrera. His style may not be to the liking of the continent's football purists but there can be no doubting his success. The 57-year-old led the Italians to European Cup glory in 1964 and also the following season. Prior to joining Inter in 1960 his managerial experience had been in Spain, where he led Atletico Madrid and Barcelona to La Liga titles.

Unless there's a dramatic change of style for today's final, Herrera will place his greatest emphasis on defence, using his favoured "catenaccio" style. Look out for the Italians lying deep, marking their opponents tightly, with the captain Armando Picchi in the sweeper role. Celtic will do well to break down this Inter back line, which has conceded only three goals in nine matches on route to Lisbon.

Herrera was at Ibrox recently to watch Celtic take on their great city rivals Rangers.

Image source, Getty Images

Jock Stein's team have won every competition they have entered this season, but can this former miner achieve legendary status by leading them to Europe's top prize?

The Celtic board turned to their former club captain two years ago when they were on a run of eight seasons without a trophy. Having had successful spells at Dunfermline and Hibernian, he is only the fourth man to manage Celtic and the Glasgow club's first Protestant in charge.

Stein immediately repaid their faith in him, winning the Scottish Cup just a few months after being appointed and achieving a league and League Cup double in 1965-66. He is going for a clean sweep of trophies this season.

Stein visited Herrera at his Inter training camp four years ago to learn from the Argentine's success. What tricks does the 44-year-old have up his sleeve for the big one today?

Image source, Getty

And for Inter, there were significant challenges to overcome too, not least the great Real Madrid and a semi-final play-off game...

First round: Inter Milan 1-0 Torpedo Moscow, Torpedo Moscow 0-0 Inter Milan, agg 1-0.

Second round: Inter Milan 2-1 Vasas Budapest, Vasas Budapest 0-2 Inter Milan, agg 4-1.

Quarter-final: Inter Milan 1-0 Real Madrid, Real Madrid 0-2 Inter Milan, agg 3-0.

Semi-final: Inter Milan 1-1 CSKA Sofia, CSKA Sofia 1-1 Inter Milan, agg 2-2. Replay in Bologna: Inter Milan 1-0 CSKA Sofia

Here's how Celtic reached today's final in Lisbon.

First round: Celtic 2-0 Zurich, Zurich 0-3 Celtic, agg 5-0.

Second round: Nantes 1-3 Celtic, Celtic 3-1 Nantes, agg 6-2.

Quarter-final: FK Vojvodina Novi Sad 1-0 Celtic, Celtic 2-0 FK Vojvodina Novi Sad, agg 2-1.

Semi-final: Celtic 3-1 Dukla Prague, Dukla Prague 0-0, agg 3-1.

Back to the present day for a moment, and we'd love to hear how you are marking the 50th anniversary of Celtic's famous match in Lisbon. Do you have any family tales of uncles and grandparents making the trip? Share your stories on the BBC Sport Scotland Facebook page and on Twitter.

We're an hour away from kick-off in Lisbon. The fans have been arriving in the Portuguese capital in their thousands in recent days. Many of them have strolled - or staggered - up to the pleasantly situated Estadio Nacional to the west of the city and are already in place for what would be the greatest moment in their club's fine history.

Welcome to the BBC's coverage of what may turn out to be a truly historic moment in Scottish - and indeed British - sport.

Celtic, the Scottish champions, have travelled almost 2,000 miles to Lisbon to take on the great Italian team Inter Milan in the final of the European Cup. Jock Stein has transformed the fortunes of Celtic in a little more than two seasons, but can the wily manager forge a path to glory this afternoon?