Philippe Clement has handed his Rangers players a warning from his own past as he urged them to create more history and not live off Thursday’s European triumph.
Rangers swept into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 3-2 victory over Real Betis in Seville.
It was the first time a Rangers team had beaten Spanish opposition away from home and Kemar Roofe’s winner achieved what Real Madrid failed to do five days earlier and inflicted a first home defeat of the season on Betis.
Rangers have another huge match on Sunday against Aberdeen at Hampden as they look to take the League Cup back to Ibrox for the first time since 2011.
Clement has been trying to bring his players back down to earth following their Spanish heroics and ensure they are ready to face an Aberdeen team who were buoyed by victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Belgian, who could have Todd Cantwell and Scott Wright back in his squad, said: “There is always excitement if you can play finals and win trophies, it brings something extra. Of course we had an exciting evening on Thursday. I was very pleased about the team writing history, the first time Rangers won in Spain.
“It is an exceptional thing they did, but we need to turn our minds. In my past I have had good and bad experiences that way.
“After a historical evening, if you don’t have the right mindset you can lose it really fast and in a really stupid way. I told the players we won with Brugge in the Champions League in Milan against a really good Milan and all the famous names – Cafu, Maldini, Dida, Nesta, Pirlo, Shevchenko, Inzaghi.
“We won 1-0, it was a great party afterwards. We were like kings of the world. And three days later we lost against the smallest team in Belgium. All the fuss and positivity was gone in a few days.
“So I spoke about that with the team and I saw in their eyes they had already switched. So they are ready for Sunday.
“The past is the past and we need to write a really good future and they can write history again. It’s an amazing thing, they can write history twice in four days – they need to grab that opportunity with both hands.”
Clement will seal his first major trophy in Scotland if he makes it 14 games unbeaten since taking charge.
The former Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco head coach said: “It is not about me. That’s not so important. It is about the club and the players and they deserve to get appreciation.
“Winning trophies brings appreciations from outside and it can change perceptions. I have a read a lot of bad things about these players and this team and they can change all of that in one game.”
Cantwell missed the Europa League win over Betis for personal reasons but is involved in the Hampden preparations.
“Todd trained today so there is a big chance he will be there tomorrow,” Clement said on Saturday afternoon. “Cifu (Jose Cifuentes) will be injured – we are unsure how long for. Scott Wright will be in the selection, he is back. Leon King will be in the selection. He had a car accident last week with his mother.”
Wright is among several midfield options who have been missing in recent games along with Ryan Jack, Nico Raskin and Tom Lawrence.
Cifuentes is suspended for the game anyway. Striker Danilo is also missing with a long-term knee injury.
Guardiola expecting challenging season for injury-hit Man City
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's current injury problems will make it harder for them to repeat the success of recent years.
Depleted by a number of injuries to key players, the Premier League champions saw a 32-game unbeaten league run ended by a loss at Bournemouth on Saturday after a midweek reverse at Tottenham in the EFL Cup fourth round, marking the first time City have lost successive matches in all competitions since September 2023.
While Guardiola says he is aware of the expectations surrounding his team, he knew they were likely to suffer more defeats due to injuries and the increasing level of their opponents.
"I know our standards, but we've lost just one game. Maybe we are going to lose again in the Premier League against Brighton and against Tottenham and against Liverpool," Guardiola told reporters, referring to their next three Premier League games.
"We are just two points behind Liverpool, who are a top-class team. We've started well in the Champions League, but I know people expect us to win 38 league games and win the treble every season as these are our standards.
"The reason it is difficult is because we have had a lot of absentees, which can happen in some seasons.
"Sometimes, to win the treble, everything has to be on the same page with injuries, but this is not possible this time. The teams are very strong and everything is more difficult, and we have to accept that. That is the challenge."
City will be without Ballon d'Or winner Rodrigo and Oscar Bobb for most of the campaign, while John Stones, Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias remain sidelined and have not travelled to Portugal.
Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker still have problems despite being in the squad, Guardiola said, and Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho are improving, while Erling Haaland is fit.
City sit third in the Champions League standings after two wins and a draw and are looking for a third consecutive European win at Portuguese champions Sporting CP, who are eighth but also have seven points and are unbeaten across all competitions this season.
Guardiola's side claimed a resounding 5-0 win at Sporting when they met in the 2022 Champions League last 16, and are looking to extend their record run of unbeaten games to 27 in the competition.
"They play quite similar like we faced two seasons ago, the pattern is so clear," Guardiola added.
"They have changed players but have the same manager and same mentality," he said, referring to Sporting boss Ruben Amorim, who will take over at Manchester United at the start of the international break.
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.
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."
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