A couple of hours before the bus carrying the Bayern Munich players even arrived at Villa Park, home fans began making their pilgrimages to the mural on Trinity Road that abuts the ground.
Kids and adults alike, they stood with their backs to the giant likeness of that big-eared European Cup, to have their pictures taken, framed against the claret and blue of Aston Villa, and flanked by digits, ten feet high, recording the greatest number in their history: 1982.
Around the corner, flowers had been laid at the foot of the statue of William McGregor, who served variously as president, director and chairman of the club in the late 19th century, and was the founder of the Football League.
The flowers, and the messages that accompanied them, were for Gary Shaw, the striker who died last month but will be forever enshrined in our memories as the lad with a startling shock of blonde hair who was one of the stars of the Villa side that won the greatest club tournament of all.
Upstairs, in the crowded press room, one seat remained empty and, on the desk next to it, there was a picture of Shaw with the European Cup that he and his teammates won in Rotterdam 42 years ago when they beat Bayern in the final.
Ghosting past the Bayern backline late in the second-half, Jhon Duran caught Manuel Neuer off his line
The occasion needed little billing. Long considered sleeping giants, the West Midlands club were back where they feel they belong
A floated ball found Morgan Rogers and after the ball made its way into the box, Torres was there to turn it home. But VAR ruled it out
A message explained it had been his seat in recent years and that it would remain empty as a sign of respect. ‘Rest in Peace, Gary,’ it said. Shaw’s name was also written at the bottom of the Villa teamsheet on the back page of the programme.
And the mind drifted back. All the way back to March 2nd, 1983, a Wednesday night, a school night for me then, the last time Villa played a European Cup or Champions League tie in front of their own fans.
I was here at Villa Park that night when Villa played the mighty Juventus. Not in the comfort of a press box seat, not with grey hair and a pair of spectacles, staring at a lap-top, fretting about words and deadlines.
But wide-eyed with excitement, carried along by the crowd, swaying and surging in the roiling, broiling magnificence of the Holte End, a majestic terrace that seemed to rise up all the way to the night sky.
I still remember the visceral thrill of seeing Paolo Rossi, the hero of the previous summer’s World Cup, scoring in front of us in the second minute as if it were yesterday. For a long time, I did not watch replays of that goal. I wanted to preserve it in my memory as I had seen it, not have it refracted by television.
I remember the thrill of seeing Michel Platini play live. And Zbigniew Boniek. And Marco Tardelli, still the holder of the prize for the greatest goal celebration of all time. And Rossi. And the notorious hatchet man, Claudio Gentile.
And then there was Villa. English clubs were kings of Europe then, even more than they are now, and Villa had beaten Bayern Munich to lift the trophy the previous summer to add their name to the recent triumphs of Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. They were our standard-bearers that season.
I loved watching Gordon Cowans play most of all. He scored the equaliser for Villa in that European Cup quarter final first leg before Boniek grabbed a late winner for Juve. I loved Cowans’ elegance, his passing and his vision. He was my favourite Villa player.
Unai Emery’s side inflicted a first loss on Vincent Kompany in his spell as Bayern boss
The home side showed one change from their 2-2 draw with Ipswich in the Premier League on Sunday, with Jaden Philogene replacing Leon Bailey
Meanwhile, Harry Kane recovered just in time from an ankle knock picked up in Bayern’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen
And the England captain had the first opportunity of the match after a ball was floated delightfully on to his head unopposed in the box
Ollie Watkins was often brought down by Dayot Upamecano running back to goal
Shaw was not far behind. What a striker he was. There was something wonderfully unvarnished about him, too. He was the kid of the team, the youngest of all of them. There was nothing cynical about him. He played with joy written all over his features. He was the kind of player neutrals loved.
So this was a hugely emotional night in the Second City. It was a hymn to the past but it was also an embrace of Villa’s renaissance under coach Unai Emery. That it should be Bayern who were Villa’s first Champions League visitors gave the evening a beautiful symmetry.
In the place of Rossi, Platini and Tardelli, a new generation of Villa fans, including Prince William, will remember this night as the occasion they saw another of the great European giants at this cathedral of English football, the night they got to watch stars like Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman and England’s all-time leading goalscorer Harry Kane.
Bayern have scored 30 goals in seven games under the management of Vincent Kompany this season, including their 9-2 rout of Dinamo Zagreb in their first Champions League tie. They started like royalty, too. Kane had an early header saved by Emiliano Martinez but replays showed he had drifted offside.
Villa were not overawed for long, though. They thought they had scored midway through the half when Torres toe-poked the ball past Neuer after a goalmouth melee but a VAR check showed Jacob Ramsey was offside earlier in the move.
Dayot Upamecano was booked for pulling down Ollie Watkins when Watkins span away from him to chase a high ball over the top but Bayern should have taken the lead when Serge Gnabry burst free down the right. Kane was screaming for the ball in the middle but Gnabry blasted it high and wide. Kane made his displeasure clear.
Kompany brought Jamal Musiala on at half time. Quite why he had not started the match was a mystery because he is a Rolls Royce of a player and his influence helped Bayern regain the upper hand. An hour had gone when he dribbled past half the Villa team and was only denied a goal by a last-ditch block.
Now and again, the cameras showed some of the Boys of 82, including the captain, Dennis Mortimer, and Peter Withe, the scorer of the winner against Bayern 42 years ago, gazing down from the stands.
Withe may have been particularly interested in the performances of Kane and Watkins, the strikers duelling for the role as England’s centre forward, but both were relatively peripheral. Watkins was substituted with 20 minutes to go.
His replacement was Jhon Duran, the supersub who has made a habit of scoring spectacular late goals. Now, on this night of all nights, he did it again. Pau Torres swept the ball forward to him, and even though Upamecano was shadowing him, Duran saw that Neuer had ventured out of his goal.
Pau Torres thought he had given his side the lead but he was ruled offside
Prince William was in attendance at a raucous Villa Park tonight
Emiliano Martinez made a couple of smart saves in the first-half to keep it goalless
Duran swivelled and hit the ball with his left foot in one movement, lifting it brilliantly over Neuer and into the net. Villa Park erupted in joy. Fans hugged each other. Some wept. Football is beautiful like that. Its traditions and its histories echo down the ages.
And sometimes, on special nights like this, history repeats itself. Martinez saved superbly late on from Michael Olise and when the final whistle went, Villa had won 1-0, just as they did on that golden night in Rotterdam 42 years ago.
How Gary Shaw would have loved it. How he would have revelled in what is happening at his club. Villa are back.