Jack Butland was one of only a few Rangers players who stayed behind to watch Celtic lift the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday afternoon.
It was a topsy-turvy, drama-filled final from which the Hoops eventually emerged victorious after penalty kicks.
Rangers stopped the Bhoys from really getting into their groove. Although they played well, they didn’t implement an attractive brand of attacking football and instead, remained defensively disciplined, looking to capitalise on Celtic’s mistakes and go long most of the time.
Brendan Rodgers’ men didn’t play particularly well, either, yet still managed to score three goals and take home the cup, adding testament to their elite winning mentality.
Kasper Schmeichel came up trumps on penalties with an elite save to deny Ridvan Yilmaz as Adam Idah, Callum McGregor, Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, and Daizen Maeda all scored for Celtic.
Butland took one for the Gers, yet crucially, failed to stop any of the Bhoys’ spot-kicks from finding the back of the net.
Post-match, the goalkeeper, Cyriel Dessers, and Conor Barron were the only Rangers players to stay behind and watch Celtic parade the trophy. Butland has since explained his motivation for doing so: “There’s plenty of pain, all right,” he said (RecordSport).
“Look, we are rivals absolutely. I wanted to see it (the trophy lift). Maybe it’s trying to wish it into existence for us and just understand.
“I don’t think it would have made it feel any better if I had walked in (to the dressing room) prior to that. But it’s just something a few of us wanted to do, wanted to see it, wanted to feel that hurt. Yeah, try and put it away and make sure we win the next one.”
For Butland and his teammates, cup final defeats to Celtic are becoming the norm. The pain, however, never lessens, and, in fact, the manner of Sunday’s loss will likely hurt Rangers more than usual.
