THERE will be people who will suggest that the year 1966 was significant for entirely different reasons, but for Scots, whose most treasured memory stretches back to six years earlier, it represents the moment when the greatest team that ever played football finally hit the buffers.

It was then that the white-shirted magicians, who had demonstrated what really was meant by the description applied by Pele some time later as the beautiful game, had their last winning fling in the tournament they had dominated for so long.

Something else did happen in 1966, of course, but, while we may have heard enough about that, the truth is that the demise of the team from the Spanish capital has perhaps far more importance in the terms of the game's development. The appearance of Real Madrid in tonight's Champions' Cup final against Juventus, in the grandiose Amsterdam Arena, prompts the thought that, if the older generation is right, the class of 1966 and earlier was so special that football has struggled to emulate ever since.

What is for sure is that the successors of Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento et al have been chasing the impossible dream of matching those glorious years when Madrid won five times in a row between 1956 and 1960, the year of the best football match ever seen in Scotland - their devastation of Eintracht at Hampden.

The chances are that the current incumbents in those white shirts will go the way of their most recent predecessors and fail to lift the trophy that had a virtually permanent place in the trophy room at the Bernabeu Stadium. They have had a poor season by their standards, by any standards, for that matter, having won nothing at home, and they take on the best team in Europe, maybe the world, in Juventus, who go into their third successive Champions' Cup final as odds-on favourites.

Yet there is some apprehension in the Italian camp. Their French midfield playmaker, Zinedine Zidane, who has a fan club for which many a two-bit pop star would kill, has particular reason for some caution when he looks at the final confrontation.

The classy Frenchman has been involved in two European finals in the past two years, losing to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup final when he was with Girondins Bordeaux and then going down to Borussia Dortmund last year, by which time he had joined Juventus.

Zidane has been rather pleased by the description of him that has come from the Real Madrid chairman, Lorenzo Sanz, who singled him out as the main man for the Italian side. While some of us might wonder about a chairman's entitlement to make such an observation, Zidane did not damage his chances of further progress in the game by saying he was very flattered.

However, he worries about winning the final. ''It is a big difference between coming so close to the finishing line and crossing it,'' he said, ''and it has happened to me twice.

''It wasn't so bad the first time, but the second time we were favourites and we had played an extraordinary Champions' League campaign. We honestly thought we were stronger than Dortmund, but the Germans were physically in better condition because we were a little tired after winning Serie A five days before the final. This time we won the title a week before the end of the season and we are better prepared.''

A significant indication of how highly the major football countries treat the winning of the Champions' Cup was shown at the weekend when the Italian League brought forward all its games from Sunday to Saturday to give Juventus more breathing space and the Spaniards went even further, switching their games to Friday to assist Real's cause.

That illustrates the commitment of the Madrid folk, but maybe not as much as the clause written into the contract of their current prodigy, Raul, who is probably halfway to immortality with single name recognition.

The clause states that master Raul cannot be sold for less than #30m. The fact that he will be in direct opposition to the man many regard as next door to the best player in the world, Alessandro del Piero, should make for a fascinating evening.

Juventus have already defied some hasty assumptions made when they were beaten early on in the Champions' League by Manchester United and even their legion of manic fans had decided they were a spent force. They have come back from that parlous position to look very much like the finest football team in the world.

They enter their third final in a row, having lost one and won one, with a major chance of confirming that reputation. Whatever else they or Real may claim at the end of the night, they cannot complain about the pitch, which, if they stick a few pockets at strategic places, would do for the world snooker championship.

The hearts of those of us who recall what the great senors are about will be with Real, if only to allow us a quick flick back in time but our heads and maybe our money will be presuming a win for the team of the 90s. We all have to move on, after all.

qJuventus' rivals AC Milan have parted company for the second time with coach Fabio Capello, owner Silvio Berlusconi sacking him after a disappointing season.

Udinese coach Alberto Zaccheroni, is favourite for the position, while Reine Almqvist, previously manager of Helsingborg, is to take over at IFK Gothenburg after yesterday's sacking of Mats Jingblad.

qSavo Milosevic ended his turbulent time at Aston Villa yesterday and said that he was hoping to enjoy a more hectic lifestyle following the Yugoslav international striker's #3.5m move to Spain's Real Zaragoza.

Atletico Madrid have reached agreement with Mallorca to buy midfielders Juan Carlos Valeron and Oscar Mena in a deal, which may involve players moving in the other direction, thought to be worth about #8m.