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• Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final

  Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.

  The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.

  Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.

  "It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.

  "It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.

  "Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."

  The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.

  Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.

  Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.

  "To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.

  "I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.

  "It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."

  Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.

  The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.

  After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.

  "An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.

  "We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.

  "We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.

  "It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."

• Vinicius suffered 'injustice' after missing out on Ballon d'or, says Brazil coach Dorival

  Dorival Junior feels Vinicius Junior suffered an "injustice" by not winning the Ballon d'Or, as the Brazil head coach slammed the "unfair situation".

  The Real Madrid winger failed to scoop the accolade despite scoring 24 goals and providing 11 assists last season, as Los Blancos won a LaLiga and Champions League double.

  The club opted to skip the ceremony after hearing Vinicius Junior would miss out on the top award, which was won by Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri.

  Madrid's decision not to attend generated mixed reviews. City head coach Pep Guardiola empathised with Carlo Ancelotti's side, but LaLiga president Javier Tebas accused them of "exaggerated victimhood".

  Dorival acknowledges Rodri was deserving of the award, having helped City to an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title before starring Spain's victorious Euro 2024 squad.

  However, the Selecao boss believes Vinicius has every right to feel aggrieved at missing out.

  "In my opinion, [it's] an unfair situation, especially because it is an individual award," Dorival told reporters during a press conference.

  "Nothing against whoever won the award, quite the opposite. It is the recognition of one of the great players of Spanish football, but Vinicius - for the work he did - should have received different attention.

  "But the greatest prize that Vinícius won was the recognition and respect of his people. The vast majority of the Brazilian people realised the injustice that was done to the player who could have deservedly received the award."

• Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten

  Sergej Milinkovic-Savic preserved Al-Hilal's unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as his header earned the defending champions a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr on Friday. 

  Al-Hilal dropped their first points of the season having won their first eight games, but remained at the summit of the standings, moving one point clear of Al-Ittihad. 

  Al-Nassr found themselves in front inside two minutes when Otavio's clipped ball found Talisca, who took a touch before firing the ball beyond Yassine Bounou. 

  The first half saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca and Mohamed Simakan seeing their efforts unable to trouble visiting goalkeeper Bounou. 

  Al-Hilal, who had scored 23 goals in their first eight games, came closest to an equaliser after the break when Salem Al Dawsari struck the woodwork. 

  But the leveller came in the 77th minute when a free-flowing move ended with Milinkovic-Savic heading the ball in off the post after being picked out by Renan Lodi's cross. 

  Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing stages, with Ali Lajami coming the closest for Al-Nassr, but the points were shared at the Al Awal Park at King Saud University. 

  Data Debrief: Champions end Ronaldo streak

  Ronaldo's run of four straight games with a goal came to an end against Al-Hilal, though he was Al-Nassr's most potent attacking threat during the encounter. 

  The Portugal captain registered a team-high 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Al-Nassr's 0.9 total, while also having the joint-most touches in the opposition box (five - level with Otavio).