Brendan Rodgers has words for Celtic fall guys, explains what went wrong against Aberdeen and why they applauded

Celtic looked on course for a domestic treble at Hampden when they led the Dons thanks to an Alfie Dorrington own goal. However, they were pegged back on 83 minutes when goalkeeper Schmeichel put through his own net with an uncharacteristic error and Aberdeen went on to end their 35-year wait for the trophy by winning 4-2 on penalties, with McGregor missing the first of the shoot-out.

It was Rodgers’ first defeat in 15 visits to Hampden across two spells as Celtic manager and denied him a third domestic clean sweep. His players did not hit their usual level, with Schmeichel’s error - turning a Shayden Morris cross home - especially damaging. Rodgers was seen consoling both the Dane and McGregor afterwards and the manager emphasised just how much they have done for Celtic.

On McGregor, Rodgers said: “He’s such a conscientious guy. He gives so much to this club. Obviously as skipper he’s so disappointed he hasn’t scored, but I was just reminding him of how much of an incredible leader he really is for this club.

“He's given so much to this season and to all the seasons I've ever known him. He's such an amazing guy and it’s unfortunate the keeper makes the save. He'll come back in the summer, stronger, fitter and ready to go again.”

On Schmeichel, Rodgers added: “He’s obviously apologetic to his team-mates, but he’s been outstanding for us all season. It was one of those moments in the game late on that can happen. We still had one or two other chances that we could have scored from. It's just unfortunate at that time in the game.”

Celtic ‘have no complaints’

Rodgers lamented some of the team's “slow” play as they toiled to break down a stubborn Aberdeen back five. “Clearly, while we're very disappointed, we know that we didn’t play anywhere near the standard needed,” continued Rodgers. “Congratulations to them for winning the trophy and taking it back to Aberdeen. That’s great for them. For us, we can have no complaints. We didn’t do enough in the game.

"I think we were very slow. We played against a back five - they went to a 5-3-2 in the game. They played how a lot of teams do against us to sit deep. We’ve played many games against that structure and got through it with speed and runs and tempo. But it didn’t feel like that. We didn’t create so much. We didn’t break any lines with or without the ball.

“We were very safe and sometimes that's what cup finals can bring. There’s no doubt we missed [injured midfielder] Reo Hatate, just his ability to take it off the back foot and play forward and run forward. But our speed in our game and our tempo wasn’t at the right level to create the opportunities that normally we would.”

Rodgers remained philosophical in his press conference and reminded everyone that Celtic have still achieved much by landing the Premiership and Premier Sports Cup, as well as reaching the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

“I’m not angry,” he said. “This is a team that’s given me so much with their honesty and quality of their football. Finals do this sometimes. We are on this side of it now.

“There’s been so many times when I've sat in here and it’s been different. I’ve had 11 finals up here and down in England and this is my first loss. You have to accept that. It’s part of sport and part of football. And as long as you can look at it and reflect honestly then we can say we weren’t good enough in our quality. We’ve got no-one else to blame.”

“Domestically, we set out to win the league, the League Cup and the Scottish Cup and we were one game from doing that. But this shows you how challenging and how hard it is. Because, on any given day, if you’re not quite on it, you can lose the game. It's a sad way to lose, unfortunately. But I think it also demonstrates how consistent and how good this team has been over a number of years.”

Rodgers wanted to respect Aberdeen

Rodgers and his players stood on the pitch to watch Aberdeen lift the trophy and the manager stressed the importance of showing respect to the opposition in defeat.

“Like I said, to the guys, when you stand there and you watch the opponent picking up the trophy, you have to show that humility and congratulate them,” said Rodgers. “But use it as a motivation for the next season.

“Our overriding values as a football club and as a team, ultimately, it's about respect. You have to respect the opposition. They win. You have to congratulate Jimmy and his staff and the players. Their supporters will enjoy it, for sure. But, yeah, we want to win every game. We want to win every trophy. But today is a reminder that it’s still very difficult and you have to earn that. And today we didn’t quite earn it enough.”