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Celtic give Rangers 'flashbacks to Seville' as crestfallen James Tavernier dodges the excuses for Hampden heartache
Hurting James Tavernier couldn't help but feel it was deja vu all over again after Rangers lost another major final on penalties.
The Ibrox side battled Celtic all the way at Hampden, a Premier Sports Cup final for the ages finishing 3-3 before the dreaded spot-kicks. In the end, Ridvan Yilmaz was the only player on either side to miss, and Daizen Maeda stepped up to be the hero and take the first trophy of the season to Glasgow's east end.
There were parallels to that heartbreaking Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, where Aaron Ramsey was the fall guy in Seville. The stakes weren't quite as high this time, but it still hurt badly as Tavernier said after the game: "Obviously it brings flashbacks to Seville when we were in the Europa League final. It's never nice to lose a game on penalties, but I'm proud of the lads who stepped up and were man enough to take a penalty. It just didn't go our way."
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The result came off the back of an improved run for Rangers and, once the pain subsides, he sees positives they can take into a big run of games that starts with Dundee at Ibrox on Saturday. He went on: "We put ourselves in a good position at half-time. We wanted to keep doing the right things, go out as if it's 0-0 and grab our chances. We're disappointed with a couple of the goals and the manner that we conceded them, but we managed to put ourselves back in a great position. These games come down to small chances and being clinical, we had a 4 vs 1 chance in the second half and they're the moments where you have to finish it off.
"There's a lot to learn from. We can take a lot out of this game and push forward for next week."
Tiredness may have showed after a draining battle with Tottenham on Thursday night. But asked if two big games in three days took their toll, Tavernier said: "It's required.
"If you play for Rangers, you're required to play every three days, no matter who you're playing. That's why we've got a big squad. The boys recovered really well, on both sides you saw lads cramp up. That's the nature of the game. You've just got to keep on pushing and keep working hard for the rest of the season."
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