Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has earned the right to feel pretty smug when it comes to Rangers and the Old Firm derby.
The Parkhead boss has dominated the Old Firm fixture during his two spells in Glasgow, even if the Northern Irishman did run off to Leicester City when Steven Gerrard was appointed at Ibrox.
Heading into the weekend’s clash with Rangers, Rodgers has been turning the screw with Celtic already 16 points clear and seemingly destined for another Scottish Premiership crown.
With Rangers fans returning to Celtic Park too, it promises to be an entertaining game with a controversial Old Firm penalty shoot-out at Hampden separating the two sides in head-to-heads this season.
| Rangers v Celtic (24/25) | Goalscorers |
| Celtic 3-0 Rangers (01/09/24) | Maeda (17), Furuhashi (40), McGregor (75) |
| Rangers 3-3 (4-5) Celtic (15/12/24) | Bajrami (41), Diomande (75), Danilo (88); Taylor (56), Maeda (60), Kuhn (87) |
| Rangers 3-0 Celtic (02/01/25) | Hagi (7), Propper (66), Danilo (81) |
But whilst Brendan Rodgers tries to bait the Rangers support, the Parkhead manager has barely had a nibble.
Why? Well, because the Ibrox club have bigger fish to fry.
Brendan Rodgers: ‘Rangers stole Celtic’s game at Ibrox’
Whilst this will be the first time Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic faces off against Barry Ferguson’s Rangers, there is a sense of revenge at Parkhead.
Rangers dispatched Celtic 3-0 in the last Old Firm fixture at Ibrox, a bloody nose that not too many have managed to give the East-end club in recent seasons.
Rodgers claims that Rangers ‘stole’ Celtic’s game that day, which kind of translates as the Parkhead boss trying to take credit for the Ibrox side’s performance.
“Listen, we were well beat on the day,” Rodgers said after the Scottish Cup clash with Hibs.
“Rangers stole our game that day. That’s normally how we play and what we do, but they took it from us and deserved the win. But we will be ready for the demands of that game.
“I said before I’d never had the team really like that in any of those games. So, the demands that are needed to play in that game, we will be ready for them next week like we were in the first game.“
Whilst Rodgers would go on to brand Rangers a ‘really good opponent’, the cheeky Celtic manager kept a straight face when he claimed that his team just had an off-day at Ibrox.
An off-day perhaps brought on by their unassailable lead at the top of the division. That old chestnut.
For what it’s worth, Steven Naismith agrees with the Celtic manager.
“We want to win every game,” said Rodgers. “That’s always our mindset and especially those games.
”We’ve won those well and not always playing brilliant football all the time. But on that day, maybe because we were 14 points clear and we’re in a good position in the league, it just maybe softened us up a wee bit.”
Rodgers has faced a number of Rangers managers over the years and – after briefing his team to watch the Gers on the counterattack – suggested Barry Ferguson will bring bite to the Old Firm battle.
“Barry will come with passion and professionalism and wanting to get a result here,” said Rodgers. “But I do as well. So, it will be a great game. We’ll look forward to it. And when it arrives, it will be brilliant.”
Ferguson will be the seventh manager Rodgers has faced across his two spells at Ibrox.
Rodgers could face an eighth next season too, with former Rangers striker Gordon Dalziel backing someone like Rafael Benitez to put up a better fight against Celtic’s dominance.
| Brendan Rodgers’ record v Rangers managers (W-D-L) | Win percentage | |
| Mark Warburton | 3-0-0 | 100% |
| Pedro Caixinha | 3-0-0 | 100% |
| Graeme Murty | 3-1-0 | 75% |
| Steven Gerrard | 1-0-1 | 50% |
| Michael Beale | 1-0-0 | 100% |
| Philippe Clement | 5-1-1 | 71.5% |
| TOTAL | 16-2-2 | 80% |
Rangers Euro success brings Celtic failure under spotlight
There’s more than a few soundbites in there from Brendan Rodgers that could stoke a reaction amongst Rangers fans.
But before the Ibrox support can turn their attentions to Parkhead, there’s the small matter of the Europa League clash with Fenerbahce.
Rangers lead Fenerbahce 3-1 after a stunning away performance in Turkey and now Ibrox is headed for a sell-out as Barry Ferguson’s team look to finish the job.
No one at Ibrox is taking a place in the Quarter Final for granted.
Whilst Celtic have been all-conquering domestically, they have failed to leave their mark in Europe with a spirited 1-1 draw away to Bayern Munich the club’s best knockout European result in over 20 years.
Conversely, Rangers have been late stage Europa League mainstays in recent seasons, reaching the Final in 2022 and threatening to go on another run this campaign.
For all Celtic’s domestic superiority, they have been left green with envy at Rangers’ European exploits, even if they should really be thanking the Ibrox side.
The Parkhead club’s recent Champions League qualifications – albeit they had to win the domestic titles – have been off the back of Rangers’ impact on the UEFA coefficient.
You have to go back to Barcelona in 2004 for the last time Celtic won a European knockout tie, the Parkhead side winning 1-0 over two legs to progress in the UEFA Cup.
In the space of time since, Rangers having reached the Champions League knockouts, travelled to Manchester, survived financial collapse and been beaten on penalties in Seville.
| Things that have happened since Celtic last won a knockout European tie |
| Tsunami devastates Southeast Asia (2004) |
| (Is this the way to) Amarillo reaches number one in the UK charts (2005) |
| Rangers qualify for Last 16 of the Champions League (2006) |
| Still Game goes on hiatus (2007) |
| Global economic crisis/recession (2008) |
| Rangers reach the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester (2008) |
| Icelandic volcano ash cloud grounds flights from Scottish airports (2010) |
| Rangers readmitted to the bottom tier of Scottish football after financial collapse (2012) |
| Glasgow hosts Commonwealth Games (2014) |
| Scotland votes No on independence from the United Kingdom (2014) |
| Leicester City wins the Premier League (2016) |
| Still Game returns (2016) |
| Donald Trump elected president (2017) |
| Brexit becomes official (2020) |
| Covid pandemic leads to a global lockdown (2020) |
| Rangers win 55 – their first title in a decade – and stop Celtic winning 10IAR (2021) |
| Rangers reach the Europa League Final in Seville (2022) |
| Donald Trump takes office after being re-elected president (2025) |
The Ibrox side’s success on the European stage is a haunting reminder to Celtic, and by proxy Rodgers, of their own shortcomings.
Try as they might to shift the focus on to the Old Firm derby, football fans around the country have their gaze fixated on Rangers and the visit of Fenerbahce.
With Jose Mourinho due in Glasgow at any moment, everyone, including Rodgers, knows that the biggest game in Scotland this week is at Ibrox and not Celtic Park.
