Celtic v Aberdeen - Scottish Cup Final, Saturday 3pm

Sport
1

Celtic are going for their 6th treble in 9 seasons amidst an era of unprecedented domination, helped of course by their main rivals being a basket case for much of that timeframe. Since the League Cup was introduced in 1946/47, Celtic had only ever won 3 trebles until Rodgers was appointed in 2016. Celtic actually had a lot of Hampden Park disappointments in semi-finals & finals in both cup competitions in the years before that under Lennon & Deila. I can think of losses to Caley Thistle, Ross County x2, St Mirren, Killie, Hearts & Rangers but Rodgers is unbeaten at Hampden over his two spells so far.

And Celtic have now won their last 15 finals, which is a superb record even being the dominant club. There would generally be an upset somewhere along the line but theyā€™ve come through a lot of tight games. There have been two shoot out victories - this seasonā€™s League Cup win against the huns & the Covid season delayed final with no fans versus Hearts. A lot of 1-goal victories also, including come from behind wins such as the Kyogo brace against Hibs in Angeā€™s first season and Rogicā€™s last gasp winner against tomorrowā€™s opposition to seal the invincible treble.

So cup finals can be tight affairs & often donā€™t follow the pattern of league games. That said, Celtic have 4 wins & a draw against Aberdeen this season & will be overwhelming favourites. The 2-2 draw back in the Autumn was when Aberdeen were riding high in the league & still unbeaten but they endured a horrific few months either side of the new year & ultimately finished 5th. Celtic beat them 6-0 in the League Cup semi-final at the start of November & that kinda burst their bubble. A 1-0 win at Pittodrie through a late Reo Hatate goal followed pre-Christmas & there have been two 5-1s to Celtic in the second half of the season.

Aberdeen pressed high & took Celtic on in the game at Pittodrie 10 days ago but Celtic were able to play through them & totally exploit the spaces. I think theyā€™ll be much more defensive tomorrow & sit deep, spoil, play for set pieces & try to frustrate. Keep it scoreless for as long as possible & just stay in the game. A win for them would guarantee European group phase football next season whereas their league finish currently sends them into Conference League pre-qualifying rounds.

Celtic will be without Jota & Hatate, both absent through long term injuries.

I think the team will be:
Schmeichel;
Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor;
Engels, McGregor, Bernardo;
Kuhn, Idah, Maeda.

The selection debates appear to be Bernardo or McCowan to take Hatateā€™s place & whether Forrest has done enough to get the nod ahead of Kuhn whose form tailed off after Christmas. I think heā€™ll keep Forrest in reserve. I also reckon Idah will start but he could play Maeda through the middle & start both Kuhn & Forrest. Iā€™d like to see Yang get a good go from the bench too, I think his improvement has been significant in the second half of the season. A goal off the bench for Johnny Kenny would be terrific but that might be asking for too much.

Aberdeen will probably line out as expected.

2 Likes
2

Great summary. On losses in Cup Finals and send finals I always remember the Raith Rovers League Cup final loss in 94. That was a sore one.

As for today come on the Hoops!

3

Iā€™d start Forrest over KĆ¼hn but I think the rest of the team picks itself.

4

image
image1080Ɨ2340 116 KB

1 Like
5

Commentatorā€™s eye.

1 Like
6

20250524_141222
20250524_141222720Ɨ900 74 KB

7

That looks like 3 centre backs for the Dons in 5-4-1 or 5-3-2. What do you think @Galaxy ā©?

Medium block, triggers for the wing backs, midfield & attackers to press Celtic & look to hit Keskinen with diagonals over the top into space? They might line up man for man on the Celtic midfield three & really look to spoil & disrupt.

I think Keskinen could play off the left in a 5-4-1 either but he might be a bit floaty in a 5-3-1-1.

I donā€™t know if Jamie McGrath is injured or if heā€™s just left out ahead of joining Hibs when his contract expires.

8

Ooooowwwwnnnn ggggooooaaaallllll

1 Like
9

Oooweennn gggooaaalll

10

1-0. HT.

Aberdeen set up in the 5-3-2 alright but deeper than I expected & they didnā€™t have any plan when they actually won the ball. No connection between them & they were just kicking it away. The whole first half followed the pattern of Celtic probing & Aberdeen sitting in. Although Celtic could have moved the ball quicker at times, it didnā€™t feel like there was any threat for them in the game even when it was scoreless for so long. And when Aberdeenā€™s whole gameplan was based on holding out, they havenā€™t shown any ability to open up & do anything on the ball themselves. They might change personnel &/or formation at half time but youā€™d think the only thing stopping Celtic from going on & winning this comfortably would be some rank complacency or individual mistakes. The bench should also make an impact if Aberdeen do try to push up.

11

Get Kuhn gone in summer if any offer comes in , itā€™s only worse heā€™ll get. Idah has made some lung busting runs only for no ball to come .

12

Aberdeen still arenā€™t offering much but Celtic arenā€™t all that impressive. Some players are letting the game pass them by a bit. One of them, Engels, just strikes the post now.

13

Forrest, Yang & McCowan for Kuhn, Idah & Engels.

Maeda will move upfront.

14

1-1. Thereā€™s the complacency & individual errors.

15

Appalling.

Sloppy couple of minutes and a terrible concession.

16

Was the ball out of play in the earlier attacking phase?

1 Like
17

Thats a shocker

18

Looked it

19

Bernardo gave the ball away cheaply in his own half a couple of minutes before that too. But Schmeichel was very casual, terrible stuff.

1 Like
20

Wtaf