The Cup finals were dramatic, both. Aberdeen reached both finals, where they met Celtic and Glasgow Rangers. High stakes for all involved.
Celtic – Aberdeen clashed in the Scottish Cup final. Celtic dearly wanted a trophy to save otherwise weak season. But Aberdeen wanted a trophy too. The final finished scoreless after overtime and penalty shoot-out followed, in which Aberdeen prevailed 9-8.
Huge disappointment for Celtic’s hopes, but it was somewhat fair loss, considering the shape of Celtic this season. No trophy for them.
One may say Aberdeen was lucky to win the final, but they won and the Scottish Cup was in their hands.
The League Cup final: Rangers vs Aberdeen. Rangers wanted a double. Aberdeen wanted a second trophy as well – the League Cup final ended undecided, but in the overtime Aberdeen prevailed: 2-1.
No double for Rangers – a blow to their domination.
Once again, Aberdeen was lucky. Well, third-time lucky… which speaks volumes for their tough determination. Fighting tooth and nail for second place in the championship and both Cup finals – and prevailing at the very end. But very little, but coming on top. Getting more with less – that is, spending less than Rangers and thus having weaker squad, but the approach was sober one. Of course, the Dutch imports Theo Snelders and Willem van der Ark were not famous stars, but were dependable. Charlie Nickolas was fading already without fulfilling the great hopes he inspired some years before, but was good enough for Aberdeen. There were also Alex McLeish, Davie Dodds… the squad had enough strength. Double victors at the end – winning the 7th Scottish Cup and the 4th League Cup for the club.