Callum McGregor helped Celtic win another trophy at Hampden, guiding them to a penalty shoot-out victory over Rangers in the League Cup final. As the team captain, McGregor was a key player in midfield, showing strong leadership throughout the match. After the game, he praised his teammates for their determination, especially during the tense shoot-out and the 120 minutes of play.
In his interview with Celtic TV, McGregor said, “It was a tough game, an old-fashioned cup final and the game becomes a bit chaotic and, to be honest, we gave ourselves a lot of work to do by the way we started the game. When we started to play in the second half, you could see the team more dangerous but, like I said, by that point the game is a bit chaotic and anything can happen.
So the big takeaway is how well the players dug in and fought for each other, and then in the moments when we had to show quality, we did that to make sure we bring the trophy home.”
Celtic’s Dramatic Path to Victory
Celtic were behind at halftime, but early second-half goals from Greg Taylor and Daizen Maeda put them ahead. Rangers equalized before Nicolas Kuhn scored to give Celtic the lead again with just three minutes left in regular time. However, Rangers responded quickly, scoring again to send the match into extra time. After 30 minutes with no further goals, the game was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
McGregor was one of the five Celtic players to score their penalties, while Kasper Schmeichel made a crucial save, and Daizen Maeda scored the winning penalty. McGregor reflected on the pressure, saying, “If you want to win things you need a big personality in difficult moments and pressure situations.
That’s so many penalties in a row we’ve scored, so it bodes well, it shows the work the boys are doing leading into these games. You know that anything can happen but then it’s about keeping your nerve and trusting yourself, trusting your technique and trusting your teammates, and Kasper came up with a big save as well.”
This victory marked McGregor’s 23rd major trophy with Celtic, tying him with the legendary Billy McNeill. While proud to be mentioned alongside McNeill, McGregor remains focused on adding to his collection of trophies. He said, “When you start to get mentioned in the same breath as these guys in terms of honours and what you’ve achieved, you’re super proud and you just try and put one foot in front of the other.
I think anybody who wins a lot of trophies will tell you that – it’s just a combination of day-to-day work, and then, when the games arrive, you just try and give your all to not miss the opportunity. So I’m delighted.
It was massive personality shown by the group and quality in the difficult moments. It’s brilliant because it shows the combination of the work we’ve done so far – it gives us something tangible to show for how well we’ve started the season and it can be a real springboard for us.”
