Rangers vs Aberdeen Viaplay Cup final preview: Who will end their long wait for League Cup glory? | Football News

Something has to give on Sunday when Rangers meet Aberdeen at Hampden Park once again in the League Cup final.

It is a competition – often associated with these two sides to varying degrees – that has eluded both for so long, meaning this weekend’s final offers up the chance for long-awaited redemption or ongoing exasperation.

Rangers may have scratched their recent silverware itch with a title and Scottish Cup triumph over the past few seasons but many supporters almost view this as their trophy. It is the one domestic title that is still missing from the books since the club’s promotion back to the top flight.

They have won the competition a record 27 times but it has now been over a decade since the trophy went to Ibrox. Steven Gerrard and then Michael Beale came close to remedying that in recent years but both fell short in finals to Celtic.

The Dons have also been beaten finalists twice since they last won the competition in 2014, when victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle ensured their first piece of silverware in 19 years.

Rangers versus Aberdeen under the Hampden Park lights has provided some of the most memorable occasions in Scottish football in years gone by and, given the controversy that has already marked their league fixtures this season, we can expect more drama in Glasgow on Sunday.

The season so far

Aberdeen go into the final in a somewhat unpredictable vein of form. They currently sit ninth in the Scottish Premiership but have taken four points off Rangers so far this season, which included a 3-1 win at Ibrox in September that ultimately cost Beale his job.

Since then, however, Robson’s side have only won twice in the league and have been knocked out of the Europa Conference League, despite ending their European campaign with an impressive 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday. Indeed, without those four points earned against Rangers, his side would be 11th in the league, in the relegation play-off spot.

Rangers, meanwhile, enjoyed a solid start under new manager Philippe Clement after Beale’s departure, with the team 13 games unbeaten under the Belgian going into the showpiece event at the national stadium. Progress has been obvious, and they are now just five points behind Celtic – with a game in hand – ahead of their New Year visit to Parkhead, with a stunning 3-2 win over Real Betis in Spain in midweek also securing a spot in the last 16 of the Europa League.

Ahead of the return game at Pittodrie last month, however, former Gers striker and Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd had added spice to the game by saying Aberdeen players, who lost 6-0 to Celtic in their previous outing, would raise their game against Rangers.

Bojan Miovski’s 11th-minute opener would have done little to change his mind before James Tavernier scored from the spot in the 94th minute after Stefan Gartenmann pulled Connor Goldson’s shirt in the box at a corner.

Robson was furious with the decision, saying after the match: “It doesn’t look great. For me it doesn’t look good, another VAR decision going Rangers’ way in the 90th minute again.”

Those comments will have done little to ease the inevitable hostilities between the two teams.

Both go into the final desperate for silverware, with Rangers fans unhappy at Robson’s remarks and Aberdeen having expressed their dissatisfaction at being denied a 50-50 ticket split for the game.

All of this, coupled with a rich history in this particular fixture, makes for an intriguing contest at the national stadium.

Do Robson’s Aberdeen have upper hand over Gers?

Rangers have been waiting for a long time to collect their 28th League Cup. They have not won this competition since Walter Smith guided his side to victory over Celtic in March 2011.

They let opportunities to banish that record slip through their hands with defeats to Celtic in 2019 and in February this year. Clement is determined not to see the Rangers fans walk away from this final empty-handed.

“We’re making steps and there’s still a long way to go,” he said after the club’s win at Real Betis. “What can this win do for the team ahead of Sunday? Nothing. For me, there is no difference because we have won against Betis. It’s a different game.

“I cannot be more proud as a coach after this short period together. I’m lucky, I’ve had some good nights already. But for sure it’s one of the great nights. The bad thing about me is that I’m already thinking to the next one.

“I’ve had some special feelings when I was at Genk and with Brugge but this is the first time with that feeling with this team. I’m really happy with the evolution we’re making, mentally, physically, technically, tactically.

“Of course this will give us confidence, but we need to see now that we stay with our feet on the ground. The biggest thing today is that everyone in the dressing room knows that if they stick together and work hard, they get the rewards.”

Clement’s own cup record as a player is an impressive one. He was a four-time winner of the Belgian Cup with Genk and Club Brugge so clearly knows how to win finals on the pitch. As a manager, however, he is still waiting for a first domestic cup win, excluding the Super Cup he won with Brugge in 2021.

Before that he lost the 2018 Belgian Cup final with Genk and the 2020 final with Club Brugge and will be determined to make amends this time around.

Celtic’s surprise defeat to Kilmarnock earlier in the tournament presented Rangers with a fantastic opportunity to lift a trophy they haven’t managed to get their hands on in over a decade.

In years gone by this trophy was one Walter Smith’s sides would prioritise to set them up for the season: “I remember Walter always saying we need to get to this final and win this trophy to send out an early marker,” Stuart McCall previously told Sky Sports News.

Winning breeds winning – something this Rangers side have not been able to consistently do. Clement can pick up some early goodwill and buy-in from the Rangers support by doing what Beale failed to do last year and winning silverware early his reign.

His counterpart on Sunday is no stranger to League Cup success – and with Aberdeen.

Robson was part of the last Dons side to win a trophy – the League Cup – under Derek McInnes in 2014 when he scored the first spot-kick in their 4-2 penalty shootout win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Incidentally, current Pittodrie skipper Graeme Shinnie was part of the losing side that day.

He was also part of the Celtic team that won the competition in 2008, although he was not in the squad that beat Rangers 2-0 in the final at Hampden.

It is his first major final as a manager after stepping up from his role as interim boss following the departure of Jim Goodwin last season.

Before that triumph under McInnes, you have to go back to 1995 for the last time Aberdeen won a major trophy – again the League Cup. They came so close to adding to that silverware tally under the now-Kilmarnock manager during his time in the Granite City but could not quite get over the line.

Sunday offers a chance to make amends for that. Victory at Hampden could completely re-energise Aberdeen as a cup side and give impetus to what has been a stuttering league campaign thus far.

Despite their differing league positions, Aberdeen are unbeaten against Rangers this season and it could be argued they go into the final with the upper hand over their opponents. Robson refuses to put too much stock in league form, however, and knows anything can happen in the final.

He said: “Everybody wants to win a trophy but you need to go and earn it.

“For me, it is something we really want to do. This club has a great tradition. If they perform well we’ve got the opportunity to lift a cup.

“We know it is going to be difficult, they’re a proper Rangers team, we know we’re underdogs – so let’s just see if we can put a real performance on.

“Winning a cup is something that the club want to do. I just want to see the players and the fans and everyone at the club being happy and winning a cup.”

Robson could also be boosted by the return of forward Bojan Miovski – who has scored 12 goals this season – as he battles to recover from a hamstring issue picked up in the win over Hearts.

“He was all right this morning [Friday],” said Robson. “Obviously we’ve still got another training session to go tomorrow [Saturday] so we’ll see how he is tomorrow and we can go from there.”

Hostilities renewed

These two sides played out the first final of the League Cup in April 1947, with Rangers beating Aberdeen 4-0 in front of nearly 83,000 fans at Hampden.

They would not meet again in the final until 1979, with Rangers emerging victorious once more, condemning Aberdeen to the first of back-to-back final defeats.

Then came that golden era of the Rangers versus Aberdeen rivalry as it became one of the premier matches in the Scottish football calendar shortly after the arrival of Graeme Souness at Ibrox and the departure of Alex Ferguson from Pittodrie in 1986.

To those of a certain generation, this fixture was the League Cup final.

In the decade that followed Souness’ arrival, Rangers and Aberdeen won eight out of the 10 finals in the League Cup, with the Ibrox side accounting for six of those. Indeed, it was Aberdeen who were Rangers’ closest title challengers for the most part until the re-emergence of Celtic under Tommy Burns in the mid-1990s.

Between 1987 and 1992 Rangers and Aberdeen met in the League Cup final on four occasions, which included three finals in a row. All are Scottish football classics, with little to separate two very good teams.

Aberdeen 3-3 Rangers (Rangers win 5-3 on pens), Hampden Park, October 1987

There was nothing to choose between the sides after 120 minutes of a pulsating game at Hampden which saw the lead and momentum swing back and forth between Rangers and Aberdeen. Jim Bett’s penalty opened the scoring before a stunning Davie Cooper free-kick restored parity. Willie Falconer thought he had won the game for Aberdeen before Robert Fleck’s late equaliser sent the game to extra-time and eventually penalties, with Rangers converting all five kicks to retain their trophy.

Aberdeen 2-3 Rangers, Hampden Park, October 1988

The two sides met again at Hampden the following year and served up another classic, with Rangers again coming out on top. Goals from Ally McCoist and Ian Ferguson had Rangers in front twice with strikes from Davie Dodds pegging them back both times. McCoist was not to be denied, however, popping up with the winner four minutes from time.

Aberdeen 2-1 Rangers (AET), Hampden Park, October 1989

Remarkably, the sides met in the League Cup final for the third time in a row in 1989, with Aberdeen finally halting Rangers’ winning run in the competition. Paul Mason opened the scoring for the Dons before Mark Walters made it 1-1 from the penalty spot. The game again went to extra-time, with Mason slamming home the winner for Aberdeen in the 103rd minute.

Aberdeen would go on to win a cup double this season, beating Celtic on penalties in the Scottish Cup final the following May.

Aberdeen 1-2 Rangers (AET), Hampden Park, October 1992

By the time the sides met again in the League Cup final in 1992 Graeme Souness had departed Rangers and Willie Miller had moved into the Aberdeen dugout. Again, the game went the distance as Stuart McCall’s opener was cancelled out by Duncan Shearer, only for a Gary Smith own goal in the 114th minute to hand victory to Rangers.

Walter Smith’s side went on to win a treble, beating Aberdeen again in the Scottish Cup final and finishing ahead of Miller’s team in the league.