Bobby Robson's first embrace was reserved for his 34-year-old friend and assistant Jose Mourinho, the pair overcome by emotion as they celebrated victory in the European Cup-Winners' Cup final following the most difficult season in Barcelona's history.
Of all the challenges they had faced in five years working together in Portugal and Spain, helping to guide Barcelona through a bitter civil war following the departure of club icon Johan Cruyff, was the hardest yet most rewarding.
Yet, as they basked in the glory earned by Ronaldo's match-winning penalty against Paris Saint-Germain, little could either man have imagined the remarkable legacy of that night 20 years ago in Rotterdam's De Kuip Stadium.