Brendan Rodgers has admitted his disappointment as Celtic missed out on a treble with their penalty shootout defeat to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final – but urged his players to remember the successes they enjoyed this season.
After a 1-1 draw in regulation time at Hampden, and a goal-less period of extra time, Aberdeen were 4-3 winners in the shootout. Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnston saw their penalties saved by Dimitar Mitov and the holders saw their hopes of a clean sweep of domestic trophies fade away.
“Clearly we are very disappointed,” Celtic boss Rodgers said after the game. “We didn’t play anywhere near the standard needed to playing against Aberdeen and congratulations to them.
“It’s great for them but we can have no complaints. We didn’t do enough in the game.”
Celtic had been hoping for a ninth domestic treble but still finish the season as League Cup winners and Premiership champions, with memories of progress to the Champions League knock-out rounds to enjoy as well.
Rodgers said he wanted his players to take time to process the pain of missing out on the treble but also to remember what they have achieved.
“I said to the players that if you look at this game in isolation, we didn’t play to our standard and our levels,” he said.
“So that’s a disappointment. But we can’t blame anyone but ourselves.
“The bigger picture is that we’ve won two out of three domestic trophies and progressed in Europe.
“Now is the time to go away with our families, because they will need them and it’s important that they have that time to reflect.
“After a few weeks they will realise that, okay they missed a chance today to win three trophies, but still they have been consistently very good over the course of the season.
“They’ll come back remotivated and they’ll renew that motivation in the summer.”
The manager also had word for Celtic captain McGregor, who was visibly upset after failing to score with the first penalty of the shootout.
“He’s such a conscientious guy and he’s given so much to this club,” he said.
“He was so disappointed he hadn’t scored but I was just reminding him what an incredible leader he is for this club.
“He’s given so much to this season and all the season. He’s an amazing guy and he’ll come back in the summer stronger.”
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