Willie Miller reveals the moment Aberdeen won the Cup Winners' Cup

The former Dons skipper led his side to the club's first ever European triumph in 1983, but he reckons the final against Real Madrid was not the game that sealed the Cup Winners' Cup

Aberdeen beat the mighty Madrid to lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup 40 years ago this week, but Dons captain Willie Miller reckons battering Bayern Munich in the quarter-final was their Real crowning glory.

The Spanish giants are the most successful club on the Continent having lifted the European Cup 14 times, and have yet to lose a European final since that night at the Ullevi Stadium, writes the Daily Record.

But back in the 1982-83 season the Dons skipper was adamant the Bundesliga was the benchmark, and when Sir Alex Ferguson's men took out Bayern at Pittodrie in the quarter-finals that was the moment the upstarts felt they could go all the way.

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Aberdeen didn't disappoint, walloping Belgians Waterschei Thor in the semis before facing the iconic Real Madrid on May 11 in front of a raucous travelling Red Army.

There may have been pressure but for Miller it was all on their more illustrious opponents. Sir Alex's shock troops went out confident they could go all the way.

And Miller proudly recalled: "It wasn't like, oh this is Real Madrid. We had already beaten Bayern Munich and the Germans were better than the Spaniards at that time, although Real Madrid were of course a huge name in football.

"But for us, we had already beaten the best team in the competition so why can we not beat Real Madrid? None of us were overawed by the occasion and the way we played showed that we were fully focused and ready to embrace what was coming our way.

"I think it is a build-up of belief and in particular beating the Germans – no disrespect to the English by the way, it was always fun beating them. But we had a feeling the Germans were the ones to beat and the Bundesliga was pretty special in the 80s with the players they had available.

"We had taken a couple of defeats in the years prior to beating Bayern so you get that belief by playing teams of that level but you are also building belief through international appearances as well as a player. You have to bin their reputations. You have to say, who is Karl-Heinz Rummenigge? Yes he has a big, long name but is he any good at playing the game?

"Then you are up against him and he has this big reputation but you manage to, I am not saying not give him a kick of the ball, but you manage to control him, over two legs as well. Don't go out there with the mindset that they are better than you. That's how you build up belief."

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The Dons drew 0-0 in the Olympic Stadium and Bayern star Rummenigge did make a lasting impression on Miller – with a boot in the face. But the stopper and his side took their revenge with that famous 3-2 win at Pittodrie.

He joked: "Yes, in the quarter-final – in the first game over there. He was all apologetic but the front tooth just popped out and it was one of his overhead kicks. I put my head in for the cross, his boot caught me in the face and the tooth popped out.

"He was noted for these spectacular overhead kicks inside the penalty box. Absolutely! If someone kicks you in the teeth in the east end of Glasgow, they don't then help you look for your teeth! [We] didn't find it by the way!"

Looking back, the European Cup Winners’ Cup final was probably the biggest game of his career but for Miller, at the time, it was just another cup final. Lifting trophies in the red and white was nothing new for him, certainly in the domestic game, but that was one that put them all on the map.

Aberdeen's greatest ever player claimed: "It was just another final as well, believe it or not. I think when you look back now you realise how enormous it was and it put Aberdeen on the European football map.

"But at the time – and I don't mean this to be blasé – yes you knew it was a European final but we didn't know how big it was and how much of a difference it was going to make to you as a player and the club as well, being recognised throughout Europe."

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Goals from Eric Black and John Hewitt certainly did that, as it allowed Miller to lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup high into the rain of the Gothenburg skies – with his one raised arm becoming such an iconic and lasting image in Scottish football history.

Miller insisted: "That's the pinnacle, isn't it? You have done all the hard work and the difficult part to get the opportunity to lift the trophy and I was lucky enough to be able to do that on a number of occasions for the club.

"There is a euphoria about it as well. You are all high, the adrenaline is pumping but that satisfaction also begins to settle in as well and you all calm down a bit and you realise what you have done. You have to go and celebrate with the fans as well and your families are up there too. It is a great feeling, a euphoric feeling.

"Then you are coming down from that when the final whistle goes and all the mad celebrations you have to the actual ceremony of lifting the trophy. You are coming down and then the realisation of exactly what you have done dawns."