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CAN BRENDAN RODGERS' HAMPDEN DOMINATION CONTINUE AGAINST RANGERS?

Brendan Rodgers will be preparing his side for his 12th visit to Hampden Park as a manager and his third Scottish Cup final as a Celtic boss.


The former Leicester City manager holds an incredible record against Rangers in his time in Scotland, something that has been widely documented, and he has only ever lost once against them across two different tenures at Celtic Park.


This season has arguably been his most testing when it comes to the derbies, and so far he has played four times against Rangers without losing a single one. This is despite the media pressures and other troubles his side has faced all season.


His dominant record against Rangers includes Hampden Park encounters as Rodgers has enjoyed some exceptional displays against them at the national stadium over the years, with some of those matches living long in the memory of Celtic supporters.


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We decided to take a look back at Brendan Rodgers' previous fixtures against Rangers at Hampden Park. The results are encouraging as we prepare ourselves for this weekend's Scottish Cup final:


Rangers 0-1 Celtic // 2016 League Cup semi-final


Brendan Rodgers' first match at the national stadium as Celtic boss brought with it arguably the most dramatic and nail-biting of all the derby meetings he has experienced at Hampden.


Celtic dominated proceedings all afternoon, with a number of opportunities being saved from Rangers keeper Matt Gilks.


Rangers set up very defensively after the 5-1 hammering they had suffered at Parkhead in the sides' previous meeting, but Celtic thought they had taken the lead through Erik Sviatchenko, whose header was disallowed.


Scott Sinclair hit the bar as Celtic turned the screw, with their efforts finally being rewarded when Moussa Dembele latched on to a Leigh Griffiths cross and back-heeled it through the legs of Gilks late in the game to set up a meeting with Aberdeen in the final.



Celtic 2-0 Rangers // 2017 Scottish Cup semi-final


Having already wrapped up the league title and the League Cup, Celtic had to see off Rangers to set up the chance of a domestic treble.


This was the first loss of Pedro Caixinha's tenure at Rangers, and the Hoops took the lead early on virtue of a well-placed Callum McGregor strike.


Griffiths was then brought down in the box by James Tavernier, and Sinclair was on hand to (just) slot the penalty past Wes Foderingham to send the Hoops into the final.



Celtic 4-0 Rangers // 2018 Scottish Cup semi-final


Rangers couldn't lay a glove on Rodgers' side in this semi-final as Celtic could have had far more than the four they scored on the day.


Celtic dominated all game, with Callum McGregor and Tom Rogic finding the net in the first-half.


That lead would only be extended in the second-half, as Ross McCrorie was sent off for fouling Dembele in the box, and the Frenchman didn't pass up the opportunity to score again against Rangers, chipping the ball straight down the middle from the spot.


Olivier Ntcham put the final nail in the coffin late on as Brendan Rodgers once again brushed Rangers aside at the national stadium.


James McKenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie

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