Redemption, thy name was so very nearly Philippe.
But as it has been so often, it was Brendan Rodgers who - for the 10th time now over his two spells in charge of Celtic - was the manager holding the silverware at the end of a breathless contest at Hampden.
There will likely be talk of the gap narrowing between Celtic and Rangers on the basis of this game, and of the protagonists and the villains of the piece, with some players filling both those roles throughout an incredibly captivating 120-plus minutes and penalties.
Greg Taylor, for instance, went from zero to hero. Ridvan Yilmaz was the unfortunate man left, bereft, holding the can at the end as his penalty miss in the shootout was to prove the decisive factor in finally separating these two sides after an almighty slugfest at the national stadium.
Long before that though, was a moment that could just as easily be ranked as a defining one in this contest, and when at least a couple of the fingers that Rangers looked to have on the League Cup trophy slipped off.
The second half of a pulsating League Cup final had started as the first had ended – with Celtic rattled.
Rangers had their rivals on the ropes alright. Celtic’s play had been uncharacteristically error-strewn in the opening period, and it appeared that Clement’s game of cat and mouse was about to pay off big time, with his side having already pounced on one catastrophic error to hit the front, and looking as though they would do so again to all but kill off the contest.
It was the aforementioned Taylor who was badly at fault, as his loose square ball – one of many kamikaze passes Celtic seemed intent on attempting - was punished for Nedim Bajrami to put Rangers ahead. And when the same player was caught in possession once more after the restart, he must have feared the worst.
A swarm of blue jerseys poured forward as the ball was worked to Hamza Igamane, who in turn fed Bajrami on the right. There were at least two, possibly even three Rangers players waiting to tap home in the middle.
All that stood between Bajrami and his teammates – and perhaps Rangers and the trophy, given the way the contest had unfolded to that point – was Cameron Carter-Vickers. But somehow, the American managed to block Bajrami’s attempted centre, and in the blink of an eye, the final had been turned on its head.
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Celtic equalised through a deflected effort from Taylor, of all people, and then hit the front through a typically opportunistic Daizen Maeda strike. And there were still innumerable twists and turns to come.
Rangers hit back through Mohamed Diomande, before Celtic looked to have won it as Nicolas Kuhn tucked home an Arne Engels cutback with just three minutes of regulation time remaining. But barely 60 seconds later, the ball was in the net at the other end, as a delicious Vaclav Cerny cross was nodded home by Danilo.
Given the torrents of water that passed under the bridge then since that moment when Carter-Vickers intercepted Bajrami’s cross for what would have been a certain Rangers goal, it may not stick out immediately as the defining point of this battle. But the context at the time meant that its significance cannot be overstated.
If Rangers could be faulted for their quality of football at times here, they certainly couldn’t be faulted for their heart, commitment and endeavour, having picked themselves up off the canvas twice in the second half to force extra time.
But when the moment came to administer that knockout punch, they just couldn’t do it. At 2-0 to Rangers, a dazed Celtic would have been all-but dead on their feet. But the punch was pulled, and then Celtic found their legs.
The killer instinct, that ethereal quality that separates the winners from the losers, is still a missing component in the make-up of this Rangers team. Whatever it is, Celtic have it in spades, and that is what really separates these two sides.
And so, Rodgers and his men, despite being knocked out of their stride and being far below their best, march merrily on. Celtic, as they did at this same venue against this same opponent in May, found a way to win.
When the big moment arrived, they grasped it, with Maeda delivering the coup de grace that had eluded Rangers by slamming home the winning penalty.
As for Clement, there is no denying that from the low point of that insipid Ibrox draw against Dundee United, remarkably just three weeks ago or so, he has slowly been working his way back into the favours of the Rangers support.
They say that once the crowd turns, there is no way back for a manager. And cards on the table, I know this because I said as much myself about Clement the evening of that dire display against United.
A win against Celtic here though, despite the gap between the sides in the league, would have underlined his recent good work, and then some.
But as it stands, that win against Celtic is still beyond him - after this, his sixth attempt - with just one other draw to his name. Celtic have the League Cup. That gap in the table still stands at 11 points.
Rangers may never have a better chance of giving this Celtic side a bloody nose. Clement may never have a better chance of besting Rodgers. But neither he nor his team could seize it, and therein lies the difference.
