Rangers Old Firm victory v Celtic is ‘non-negotiable’ on Sunday – Steven Clifford
This weekend sees the biggest game of Rangers’ season so far and no European game can eclipse the magnitude of it, no matter the opponent.
Celtic are the opponents at Ibrox for the third Old Firm derby of 2021-22 and it looks set to be a key battle to deciding where the Scottish Premiership title will be heading.
The Hoops hold a slender three-point lead in the race as it stands and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side will be keen to eradicate that by the time Sunday’s game has finished.
Glasgow Evening Times columnist Steven Clifford sees victory for the Light Blues as the only possible option if they want to retain their Scottish title for another season.
“Make no mistake, Rangers have to win Sunday. It’s non-negotiable,” Clifford wrote.
“Failure to win on Sunday would be a bridge too far. Even with a victory, it is still a huge ask but even with that realisation, it’s still in our hands. It might just have a massive psychological impact on the remaining games, that’s how big it is.
“This Rangers side have a point to prove. We were embarrassed in the first 45 mins at Parkhead. It was the first Old Firm defeat in two years and the anger from that one is still fresh in my mind. It has to be the case for the players too.”
Roar them home
Any game against the enemy is a very tough one and something that every player needs to be prepared to battle for if you have any hopes of winning.
But that aggression needs to be started in the stands and the deafening Ibrox crowd will have to play their part come Sunday.
Those Celtic players will not relish a trip to the blue side of Glasgow so let’s give them both barrels and make sure they fear ever returning to Ibrox in the future.
van Bronckhorst won’t need to remind them of the embarrassing performance at Parkhead in February and that will surely be a key part of his team talk before kick-off.
Forget the Europa League run for a moment, there is no bigger game for any Rangers fan than this one and the team needs your support more than ever, roar them home.
In other Rangers news, this Gers trio were knocked out of the World Cup yesterday but that works fine for van Bronckhorst.