Jimmy thelin hopes aberdeen can join europe's underdog cup final victors

THE DONS ARE BIDDING TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CRYSTAL PALACE AND BOLOGNA WHO HAVE UPSET THE APPLE CART IN RECENT WEEKS 06:00, 22 May 2025 Jimmy Thelin would love to add his Aberdeen

team to Europe’s growing list of shock cup winners. It has been the year of the underdog. Crystal Palace stunned Manchester City to lift the FA Cup for the first time in their history.

Newcastle lifted their first trophy in 70 years as they defeated English champions Liverpool to claim the Carabao Cup. Dutch upstarts Go Ahead Eagles took care of AZ Alkmaar on penalties in

the KNVB Cup. And a former Aberdeen star, Lewis Ferguson, made headlines as his Bologna side got the better of Inter to claim the Coppa Italia for the first time in 51 years. It is 35 years

since Aberdeen last lifted the Scottish Cup and the Swede is hoping his Dons can continue that European trend by stopping treble-chasing Celtic in their tracks at Hampden on Saturday. Dons

boss Thelin said: “It’s not every year you are in the Scottish Cup Final, I think the last one was eight years ago. What we have tried to say is that it’s an achievement to arrive in the

Final but once you are there the winner takes it all. “We have a shared strong belief we can do it and that is the mindset you have to have. Look at other cup finals in Europe this year, a

lot of things have happened. Article continues below “Does Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup last weekend show what can happen? Yes, because a final is always a final. “If you go into the

game in the right way, the things you try to do are working then the possibility is always there. Will I speak to the players about this? We speak about a lot of things, we have our

strategies.” Celtic are red-hot favourites to lift the Cup and complete the Treble. Most people outside the Granite City have written Aberdeen off. Celtic have also won their last four

meetings but Thelin knows there is still a pressure on his side to go and produce for the 20,000-plus Red Army at Hampden. The Swede said: “Every club always has pressure one way or another.

You have to embrace it and focus on what you have to do to win, whether the pressure is there or not. “In this game the pressure is there in one way but we have to focus on what we need to

do as a team. We have to be really concentrated in some moments. They have won the last games, so of course we always adjust things because that’s important. “In the league you’re trying to

build for the long term and improve things. Some moments of the game in the past have been good. “The start against Celtic away was really good and then it was 3-0 to them, so of course we

know there are areas we need to help each other better in some moments of the game. Small adjustments – you will see on Saturday.” It also hasn’t helped that Aberdeen have lost their last

four league games but Thelin still feels there is a real hunger from within his group to deliver. He insisted: “The thing for me is you can feel everyone is aligned and have belief and

hunger. “The belief has to be there, you have to dream big and give everything you have to catch this dream. I see the spirit in the players, the belief is there and we’ll give everything we

have. “This is the final game left this season so we have to try to enjoy this moment. It’s been eight years, you don’t know when the next time will happen again, so you have to be brave

and throw everything you have on the pitch. “We can do it so we’re going to give everything we have. You can feel when a group of players has this or not - and this group has it. They really

want to catch this moment because they know what it could be.” Thelin knows he will have to come up with something different to try and finally come out on top against Brendan Rodgers. He

added: “I like Brendan and have had good chats with him. “When you talk, sometimes with people you can talk about everything - football and other things also. He is a good person and a good

manager. When you see what he’s done and the way he works, he’s a really good manager with a lot of experience. Article continues below “I have a lot of respect for him but on Saturday it’s

a final and now we will compete against each other. It’s really exciting.”