Triumph or tragedy awaits as Rangers and Celtic go ahead again

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The Celtic Star

·6 March 2026

Triumph or tragedy awaits as Rangers and Celtic go ahead again

There’s nothing in Scottish football quite like the Glasgow Derby and after last weekend’s drama in the Scottish Premiership, the game’s fiercest rivals go head-to-head once agains in the Scottish Cup quarter final at Ibrox this Sunday…

Kieran Tierney scoring at Ibrox. theRangers v Celtic. 1st March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

The sides have already met four times this season with both Celtic and theRangers having enjoyed the sweetest tasted of a Glasgow Derby triumph while the other two matches (both played at Ibrox) ended in draws.

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Celtic will have 8000 supporters at Ibrox on Sunday

Celtic go to Ibrox on Sunday with around 8000 Hoops supporters there to cheer them on in the full – and free – Broomloan stand, the first time the traditional allocation has happened since March 2018, the day Celtic supporters call Beautiful Sunday. It absolutely broke the Rangers support who had endures so many painful defeats to Celtic on their own turf.

Kieran Tierney celebrates after scoring at Ibrox. theRangers v Celtic. 1st March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

It’s been closer this season and there will be no draw this weekend, that’s the only certainty because the Scottish cup quarter-final will be played to a conclusion with extra time and penalty both options. The Celtic support will be loud and so will the reduced numbers in the home support, which will mean that this fixture, once called The Old Firm and now known as the Glasgow Derby, will be a much better spectacle with both sets of fans adding to the noise.

Ibrox noise will be weakened on Sunday by a loud and large Celtic support

Last weekend fans of theRangers created a wall of noise that the Celtic players struggled to cope with in the first half and the home side were 2-0 ahead at the break. Celtic’s ticket allocation was just 1800 for that match but the much bigger support will help the Hoops this weekend,

Daizen Maeda forces the penalty at Ibrox. theRangers 2 Celtic 2. Sunday 1st March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Unusually for Celtic, they are not top of the league and pulling away towards yet another title. Celtic have won 13 titles over the past 14 seasons, losing only the 2020/21 title which of course was the covid season. It turned out that without the Celtic support behind them the team simply couldn’t function.

That said theRangers aren’t top of the league either, they are now in third place, one point behind Celtic after Martin O’Neill’s side won their game in hand against Aberdeen up at Pittodrie in the midweek in the game played in between these two massive Glasgow Derbies.

Reo Hatate’s penalty is saved but he scores from the rebound. theRangers 2 Celtic 2.Sunday 1st March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Hearts were the winners in last weekend’s Glasgow Derby draw

Rather remarkably Hearts lead the Scottish Premiership table, five points ahead of Celtic and six points ahead of the Rangers and a title triumph for the Edinburgh side for the first time since the early 1960s would feel like a Admiral Casino jackpot win for the Jambos if they can actually win the league this season. The Tynecastle club, managed by Derek McInnes the former Rangers FC midfielder, beat Aberdeen last Saturday afternoon to extend their advantage by another three points then settled down to enjoy both of their title rivals dropping points in last Sunday’s 2-2 draw.

Reo Hatate scores at Ibrox. theRangers 2 Celtic 2. Sunday 1st March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Kris Boyd, the Sky Sports pundit had commented on this scenario as the pre-match build-up got underway and his assessment was that the loser last Sunday would effectively drop out of the title race. It’s perhaps no surprise that the Glasgow Derby ended in a draw and the real winners were of course Hearts.

Celtic’s Historic win in Germany

Before heading to Ibrox last weekend Celtic had a rather awkward fixture in Germany in a Europa League play-off that was already lost with the 4-1 home defeat to VfB Stuttgart. Martin O’Neill side put in an outstanding performance to win the match through a Luke McCowan goal inside the first 30 seconds and this was a notable, historic result as it was actually the club’s first ever competitive win on German soil.

Kieran Tierney at Pittodrie. Scottish Premiership. Wednesday 4th March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Martin O’Neill has had central defender Auston Trusty suspended for three matches, covering both Glasgow Derby matches and next weekend’s game against Motherwell, who are now the fourth title contenders in Scotland. Trusty was replaced by Dane Murray at Ibrox but he was then injured in the warm up at Pittodrie and looks set to miss this weekend’s match. There is also a major injury concern for Kieran Tierney – who scored at both Ibrox and Pittodrie – who suffered an ankle injury against Aberdeen.

Martin O’Neill relishes the Glasgow Derby matches

Brendan Rodgers was in the dugout for the 0-0 draw at Ibrox and Wilfried Nancy was the Celtic manager for the most recent encounter between the sides at Celtic Park, the 3-1 win for theRangers at Celtic Park. Martin O’Neill delivered Celtic’s 3-1 win over theRangers at Hampden in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden Park in his first spell as interim Celtic manager this season and in his second interim spell in a crazy old season for Celtic, he picked up a valuable point last weekend with that second half fight back with goals from Tierney and Reo Hatate.

Callum McGregor celebrates. Aberdeen v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. Wednesday 4th March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Celtics attention will then turn back to Ibrox for the second leg of the double header Glasgow Derby, this time in the Scottish Cup as both sides look to win a place in the semi-finals at Hampden Park.

Free Broomloan stand

Celtic’s support for this cup-tie will be significantly higher with the green and white half of Glasgow situated in the Free Broomloan stand, the first time this has happened since Beautiful Sunday in March 2018. After yet another Celtic victory against the latest Ibrox club, the Rangers supporter lobbied their new club to reduce the ticket allocation for Celtic supporters from 8000 down to around 800.

While the allocation has increased recently to 5% of the stadium capacity (a move Celtic has reciprocated for games against theRangers at Celtic Park), for the Scottish Cup, under competition rules set by the Scottish FA, the away side can ask for up to 20% of the allocation. Accordingly Celtic could have demanded just over 10,000 tickets but settled instead for a return to the traditional allocation at Ibrox against both versions of Rangers, by accepting all tickets in the Broomloan with tickets costing over £50. Celtic stand to make around £1m from their share of the revenue from this cup-tie, making it one of the most lucrative matches ever played between two Scottish clubs.

Martin O’Neill at Ibrox. theRangers 2 Celtic 2. Sunday 1st March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Triumph or tragedy awaits

But the real prize is a victory and that’s exactly what the Celtic supporters will be looking for. Triumph or tragedy awaits where the winner takes it all while the loser takes one mighty fall. The stakes in every Glasgow Derby match are high but this time in the Scottish Cup they are through the roof.