Aberdeen underdogs in final as Rangers bid to 'write history'

Aberdeen and Rangers head to Hampden Park on Sunday for their 41st Scottish League Cup meeting - and seventh in the final - having found winning form at the right time.

For Philippe Clement's Rangers, an impressive 3-2 victory at Real Betis was exactly what they needed to top their Europa League group and progress to the knockout stages.

Midweek was the first time three Scottish sides had won group-stage European ties in the same week.

It was also Rangers' first win in Spain against Spanish opposition and Clement is now urging his side to "write history again" at Hampden while sounding a cautionary tale from his time as Club Bruges manager.

"We had a really exciting evening on Thursday. It's an exceptional thing they did," he said.

"But I spoke after the game that we need to turn our minds. If you don't have the right mindset afterwards you can lose in a really fast and a really stupid way.

"I had it once and I spoke with the players about that - that we won with Bruges in the Champions League in Milan against a really good Milan with all the best names. Maldini, Nesta, Cafu, Dida, Pirlo, Shevchenko, Inzaghi.

"It was a great party after - we were like kings of the world - and three days later we lost against the smallest team in Belgium."

• Players have worked whole career for this - Robson
• Weir & Edu recall 2011 League Cup win
• Inside story of Aberdeen's 2014 League Cup win
• Quiz: Name the 1992 League Cup final teams

Aberdeen boss Barry Robson, meanwhile, says his "underdogs" must bring their "A-game" to Hampden against "a proper Rangers team".

Robson added: "All the European games will have helped with that - to be able to play in big games."

Given Rangers' improvement since Clement succeeded the sacked Michael Beale - they are unbeaten in 14 games, 13 under the Belgian, and head to Hampden seeking a fifth consecutive win - they start as favourites to extend their record and lift the League Cup for a 28th time.

It was a 3-1 home defeat by Aberdeen in September that all but sealed Beale's fate, but it is only a couple of weeks since some Dons fans were calling for Robson to go after the run of only two wins in the 12 games that followed.

Now, having added Eintracht's scalp, albeit the Germans had already qualified, to last Saturday's win over Hearts, Aberdeen head to the national stadium with renewed confidence that they can lift the League Cup for a seventh time.

• Keep up to date with Rangers
• The latest at Aberdeen

Team news

Todd Cantwell missed the trip to Spain for personal reasons but trained on Saturday and is set to return at Hampden. Ryan Jack is battling to be fit but winger Scott Wright and Leon King are available.

Jose Cifuentes misses out through suspension and also faces a spell on the sidelines with an injury sustained against Betis. Tom Lawrence, Nico Raskin and Danilo all miss out through injury.

First-choice Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski sat out Thursday's European tie with a minor hamstring complaint, but Robson is "always optimistic" that the North Macedonia forward will be fit to play at Hampden.

Defender Jack MacKenzie has been out with a hamstring injury, but Robson is confident everyone else will be available for Sunday's match.

Strikers could hold key - analysis

It could be a final decided by the availability - and manager's choice - of strikers.

Just when it looked like Danilo was emerging as Clement's preferred Rangers starter, the Brazilian suffered another injury setback.

Fellow summer signing Cyriel Dessers had so far failed to live up to his price tag but produced a moment of brilliance to fire Rangers into a 2-1 lead in Seville, while Kemar Roofe made his latest return from injury as a substitute to slot the winner.

Miovski's 12th goal of the season helped Aberdeen beat Hearts last weekend, but his injury absence in midweek provided an opporunity for Luis 'Duk' Lopes, who in the opener against Eintracht, while summer arrival Ester Sokler came on to fire a clinical second.

What they said

Rangers captain James Tavernier: "Not having my hands on that silverware for the time I've been here - it's disappointing on my part but it's a new team, it's a new challenge and we are going to give everything. It's a great opportunity for us all."

Aberdeen manager Barry Robson: "This is what they work their whole careers for - to play in a cup final. They have been used to the big occasion, so they have got a good mentality about them.

"We signed these players because they were hungry. Everybody wants to win a trophy. We should never fear, you should always respect, and we massively respect Rangers.

"We know we are the underdog and we have got lots of respect for them, so let's just see if we can put a real performance on."

Match stats

• Rangers have lifted the League Cup a record 27 times but not since beating Celtic 2-1 in March 2011.
• Aberdeen have won the trophy six times, most recently beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle on penalties after 0-0 draw in March 2014.
• Rangers have lost twice in the final since they last won the League Cup, both to Celtic, including by 2-1 last season.
• Aberdeen have also lost both their finals to Celtic since last winning it, the latest being in December 2018.
• Sunday's protagonists have met 40 times in the League Cup, with Rangers winning 22 to Aberdeen's 14.
• They have met six times in the final, Rangers winning on five occasions and Aberdeen one.