AS European knock-outs go, Aberdeen’s exit from the Europa League on Thursday night could not have been more Scottish had it been draped in tartan, drinking whisky and hitching a lift on the hump of the Loch Ness Monster.
We have become so inured to seeing our smaller clubs (ie everyone other than Celtic) coming up short on these occasions that failure no longer stings. There is now a weary acceptance that there are clubs throughout the continent (and beyond, in the case of the former Soviet states) with player budgets that dwarf anything the majority of Scottish clubs can offer. When Kairat Almaty, Aberdeen’s conquerors, held signing talks with the Brazilians, Ivorian, Spaniard and Ukrainian players peppered through their squad, presumably it wasn’t the lovely views of the city’s famous Kok Tobe mountain that helped persuade them all to put down roots and settle in Kazakhstan.
Scottish clubs cannot compete financially with clubs bankrolled in such a manner but continue to try to do so out on the pitch. As always, though, it is the hope that kills you in the end. Optimism was rife all around a packed-out Pittodrie ahead of the second leg, with Aberdeen knowing a 1-0 victory would be enough to take them through to the play-off round.
In the end they fell short but not before ticking all the “glorious failure” boxes: some terrific early saves from their goalkeeper to keep them in the tie, the sucker-punch of going a goal down after an hour, the fightback culminating in a late equaliser, the even later all-out, full-pelt assault on the opposition goal, the late chance miraculously saved by the opposition goalkeeper, the rapturous applause at full-time to acknowledge the effort if not the achievement.
Almaty were a decent-looking side who excelled on the counter attack but it was hard not to feel that this was a real chance for Aberdeen to progress that they had let slip through their fingers.
“I thought we were on top for the whole game,” was the view of defender Andrew Considine. “That was clear to see and I felt we should have gone through the tie. It is a really sore one to take as the boys were fantastic. We were first to every ball and every second ball, which was great to watch.
“We had a couple of good chances but we just weren’t as clinical as we have been in previous rounds. But I think the boys can hold their heads high as they were superb.”
Considine, like his manager Derek McInnes, felt his team would have eventually found a winner had the Czech referee allowed play to go on beyond the additional five minutes he played. That may have been true but also begs the question why Aberdeen did not show greater urgency before then.
“Towards the end of the game, they looked pretty desperate to say the least. It would have been ideal to get an early goal but we were playing against a top team. Over the two legs it was a tough one to take and perhaps we showed them too much respect over there. The boys can hold their heads high as it was a good performance.”
Bordeaux now await Kairat in the next round. For Aberdeen, there is a return to domestic chores, starting with Kilmarnock at Pittodrie tomorrow. “We are looking strong this year so hopefully teams will find us tough to beat,” added Considine. “We would like to do better this year in the cup competitions and the league. So we will dust ourselves down, rest up and then give it all we have got.”
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