The only thing that helps the Rangers is a win
It is the second of five matchdays in the championship round in Scotland’s first division, and yet a preliminary decision in the title race could already be made. Celtic are six points ahead of Rangers in the table, which also means: If Celtic wins the game, there are nine points with three games left to play. Van Bronckhorst, since mid-November as the successor of Steven Gerrard responsible as a coach for the Rangers, just said a sentence that was as simple as it was true: “We have to win this game.”
In this situation, he will certainly remember the last duel with fondness: In mid-April, Rangers won the cup after extra time and made it into the final. Previously Celtic had won both derbies in the league though, that too is part of the truth.
Old Firm – more than just football
The encounter is not only explosive because of the sporting starting position. The two best clubs in Scotland meet in the “Old Firm”, that’s true, and yet it’s always about more than just football. The rivalry is not based solely on sporting duels, there is always a religious, ideological component being negotiated: Celtic versus Rangers still means: Catholics versus Protestants, to put it simply. It’s also about politics.
Thrown bottles, splinters of glass – that can also be “old firm”.
When Celtic won LaLiga at Rangers in early April, incidents erupted during the game. Celtic said after the game a member of the coaching staff was hit by a glass bottle late in the first half and required stitches for a head wound. The bottle had been thrown from the audience.
And the start was delayed because of broken glass from the Celtic goalkeeper’s penalty area Joe Hart had to be removed. A bottle was reportedly thrown from the audience and smashed. Folders removed the fragments, the game could be continued after a delay.