Celtic retained the Scottish Women’s Cup with an historic and well-deserved 2-0 win over Rangers in the final at Hampden Park.
The first time the two teams had met in the final of the competition was also the first time the showpiece game was hosted at the national stadium and Fran Alonso’s side emerged triumphant.
Second-half goals from Natasha Flint and Claire O’Riordan, for a Celtic side who were much more of a threat throughout, ensured the trophy again would be adorned in green and white ribbons.
It was Malky Thomson’s last game in charge of Rangers before he returns to the club’s academy but his side, who secured the Sky Sports Cup earlier this season, came up short.
Both clubs narrowly missed out on the league title last week, which was won by Glasgow City’s dramatic late goal against the Light Blues at Ibrox, but it was a slow start at Hampden Park.
In the ninth minute, Celtic attacker Jacynta struck the top of the crossbar with her corner from the left, the ball going over.
The Hoops favoured going down the left flank and began to make inroads towards Rangers goalkeeper Victoria Esson, in for Jenna Fife.
There was a moment of panic in the Gers’ six-yard box in the 15th minute from another Jacynta corner, Flint getting her head to the ball before Chloe Craig knocked it past the post on the stretch.
The Hoops looked the more dangerous of the two sides while their goalkeeper Pamela Tajonar was a virtual spectator until she plucked a cross from Gers defender Rachel McLauchlan out of the air on the half-hour mark.
In the 40th minute, Celtic’s Flint ambitiously tried to beat Esson from inside her own half with a long-range punt but the Gers keeper was back to gather comfortably.
Alonso’s side should have gone into the interval a goal to the good.
Just before the break, Celtic attacker Shen Mengyu robbed Rangers defender Hannah Davison 35 yards from goal but with only Esson to beat, she dragged her shot wide of the target and the best chance of the half was gone.
Celtic began the second half positively with Jacynta racing clear before driving wide of the target.
Alonso’s side were slowly racking up the corners and from a Jacynta delivery in the 62nd minute, Esson struggled to deal with a header from Caitlin Hayes.
Moments later, after Davison’s last-gasp tackle thwarted Celtic substitute Kit Loferski, Celtic got the breakthrough from another Jacynta corner.
Esson punched away the delivery but the ball fell to Flint inside the six-yard box and she turned and knocked the ball into the net.
Three minutes later, from another corner, O’Riordan glanced a header into the net at the front post with Esson somehow on the ground.
Rangers had their first real opportunity in the 78th minute but substitute Laura Berry’s effort lacked the pace and height to unduly bother Tajonar.
Moments later, Kirsty Maclean sent Berry scuttling in behind the Celtic defence and she beat Tajonar from six yards only for VAR to intervene and declare offside and with that decision went any chance of a Rangers comeback.
Benzema: Mbappe must adapt to Madrid role and forget 'best in world' Vinicius
Kylian Mbappe must learn to play as a central striker at Real Madrid because he cannot displace Vinicius Junior on the left wing.
Those were the words of Los Blancos' second-highest scorer of all time, Karim Benzema.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 14 appearances in all competitions for Madrid since his move from Paris Saint-Germain, but has failed to score in his last five games.
The 26-year-old has been deployed in a more central role since under Carlo Ancelotti, as opposed to the wide role where he enjoyed success with the Parisiens.
"The problem, in my opinion, is that [Mbappe] is not a central striker, even with the national team, every time he plays as a number nine he doesn't feel right, because that's not his position," Benzema said on Spanish television show El Chiringuito.
"On the left, he's got a guy who's at the same level as him, Vinicius, so there is a problem.
"You can't play Vinicius as a number nine or on the right, because when he plays on the left he makes the difference in every game.
"Mbappe isn't a real number nine. People ask a lot of him and he's under a lot of pressure, this isn't Paris Saint-Germain."
The France captain has underperformed his expected goals (xG) figure in LaLiga by 1.75 this term, recording a shot conversion rate of just 18.18% from his 33 total attempts.
He has also missed seven big chances, with only Real Betis duo Abde Ezzalzouli and Vitor Roque (both eight) and Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski (11) wasting more in LaLiga.
In Madrid's last game, a 4-0 Clasico defeat, Mbappe recorded just 27 touches. Only Aurelien Tchouameni (24) registered fewer among those who started the encounter.
Benzema also endured a difficult start to life in the Spanish capital, netting just nine goals in his 33 appearances in all competitions in his debut season after his move from Lyon.
He would, however, go on to become one of Madrid's best ever players, scoring 354 times in 648 outings, a total that puts him behind only Cristiano Ronaldo (450) in the club's history.
Benzema won 25 major honours during his time at the club, also scooping the Ballon d'Or in 2022, and had some advice for his compatriot moving forward.
"Don't give up, because I don't think he's going to push Vinicius to move. He's the best player in the world at the moment," Benzema added.
"Mbappe needs to get it into his head that today he's a number nine, and forget about the left flank for a while."
Mbappe will be back in action for Madrid on Tuesday when they face Milan in the Champions League.
Luis Enrique in awe of Simeone energy ahead of reunion
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique was full of praise for his former rival Diego Simeone as he prepares to go head-to-head with the Atletico Madrid boss in the Champions League.
PSG and Atletico, who reached the semi-finals and the quarter-finals respectively last season, will face off on Wednesday having both won just one of their three league-phase games.
A home victory would boost PSG, currently 19th with four points, while Atletico, languishing in 27th on three, are aiming to recover from back-to-back losses.
PSG have never faced Atletico in the Champions League before but Luis Enrique's Barcelona defeated Simeone's Atletico side nine times in their 14 meetings between 2014 and 2017, drawing twice and losing three times.
Luis Enrique led Barca to a Champions League and LaLiga double in 2014-15 followed by another league title the following year.
"We've played against each other as players and then as managers. I admire Simeone, when a coach can stay for so many years at a top club it means he is great because that is such a difficult thing to do," Luis Enrique told reporters on Tuesday.
Simeone has managed Atletico for 13 years, guiding them to two LaLiga titles and two Europa League crowns, though the Madrid side had considered hiring Luis Enrique prior to Simeone's arrival.
"I had given my word to another club. If I had gone to Atleti, I would not have stayed half as long as Simeone because I don't have the energy as him," added Luis Enrique.
"They are lucky to have found Simeone as a coach. You need a lot of energy, to be able to convince all your players over the long-term."
PSG, having lost Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid in the close season, have just two goals in their three Champions League games, beating Girona 1-0 but drawing 1-1 with PSV and losing 2-0 at Arsenal.
"I have no doubt we can improve in defence and attack, whether it is with the defender duos of Marquinhos and Willian Pacho, or Milan Skriniar and Lucas Beraldo, or in the midfield," Luis Enrique said.
"I understand you want to discuss individual players, but we analyse things from a broader perspective.
"What interests me is to always generate goalscoring opportunities and to arrive in the penalty area because you have managed to be stronger than your opponent.
"That is my objective as a coach: to always generate opportunities."
Close-season signing Matvey Safonov, who kept a clean sheet in their opening win against Girona, might replace number one goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose mistakes proved costly at Arsenal and against PSV.
"You will find out tomorrow. After a good cup of cappuccino, I will decide who the goalkeeper is," Luis Enrique said.
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
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