'This will take while to get over' - McGregor on penalty miss

In the aftermath of Celtic's Scottish Cup semi-final trouncing of St Johnstone, Brendan Rodgers said Callum McGregor was "the glue" to the team.

In the moments after their final defeat to Aberdeen, the captain was crying inconsolably on his manager's shoulder.

It was McGregor's tame opening penalty in the shootout that set Celtic up for failure here. The midfielder had never lost a cup final in his career. Rodgers had never lost at Hampden.

Celtic had scored 19 goals against Aberdeen this season. The odds couldn't have been stacked more in their favour.

And yet McGregor left the Hampden turf with tears streaming down his face after what he called "the worst moment I've ever had in football".

But how did it come to that?

'It was all a bit safe'

Despite treble-hunting Celtic being ahead at half-time, referee Don Robertson peeped his whistle without a shot finding the target in the opening 45.

A corner swung in the direction of Cameron Carter-Vickers was nudged beyond Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov by team-mate Alfie Dorrington amid an utterly dominant first half from Celtic.

Their 84% possession was built up by moving the ball in the midfield in a manner Rodgers labelled "safe".

While Mitov was undoubtedly the hero in the end, he didn't have much to do in the 120 minutes of play.

Even when he stopped Daizen Maeda, who was through on goal deep into regulation time, it was more a mishap from Maeda than magic from Mitov.

"We didn't do enough today, I didn't feel. It was all a bit safe," Rodgers said. "We had a lot of the ball, but we lacked our combinations, our speed in the final third.

"When you play like that, and Aberdeen defend well, that made it difficult for us."

Just 10 days ago, the Dons were swept aside by a much-changed Celtic team who barely left second gear. At Hampden, they suffocated their Glasgow counterparts.

A shift to a back-five with deep-sitting strikers ensured Rodgers domestic machine couldn't get their cogs turning, while imagination and incision were not in the armoury of Celtic's expensive trio of Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah.

"You have to earn victories here at Hampden," Rodgers added. "Sadly we weren't able to do it. That is football, that's sport. We're not robots."

'It'll take a while to get over it'

When it comes to winning trophies, though, Celtic and particularly McGregor have operated quite like robots. Play, win, celebrate. Play, win, celebrate. On repeat.

McGregor has championed the need to celebrate each and every trophy, no matter how routine they've become over the years.

In recent times, it could be perceived he was forcing the enjoyment, but there was no forcing his disappointment on Saturday.

The former Scotland international wept on the shoulder of back-up goalkeeper Scott Bain. Then Rodgers. Then assistant manager John Kennedy. And anyone else who was offering consolation.

It was a sight never seen before from the previously indomitable 31-year-old, but he had just scuffed his spot-kick. Alistair Johnston soon followed suit and the treble dream was dead.

"The worst moment I've ever had in football," McGregor said.

"It was a real sore one. I just need to go away and try and go over it and come back next year and be stronger."

In the past that's proved to be a scary statement. And a true one at that. You get the sense he, and his team-mates, will want to prove it so even more next season.

"It's a tough moment, but I've had tough moments before," he added. "This is the toughest one when you take everything into consideration.

"It'll take me a while to get over it, but once the new season starts, then that's up to me to show everyone that I've got a bit of steel."

A scary prospect for the rest of Scottish football. But after today, Scottish football can believe in miracles.

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