Why Sunday's derby is Celtic's most vital game of the season
Unless, of course, the result at Celtic Park helps decide things in Hearts' favour. No matter the slightly diminished status of Sunday's noon kick-off, it will still be the most important game of the four the Parkhead side has left to play. On the line for manager Martin O'Neill and his men this weekend is a potential double bonus: entry into next term's Champions League qualifiers and the elimination of arch-rivals Rangers from the same competition.
[BBC] Much has been made of how refreshing it is that the final derby of the season between Glasgow's big two is not, in itself, a title-decider. Unless, of course, the result at Celtic Park helps decide things in Hearts' favour. No matter the slightly diminished status of Sunday's noon kick-off, it will still be the most important game of the four the Parkhead side has left to play.
More important than a final-day decider against Hearts? More important than the Scottish Cup final? The argument can certainly be made.
On the line for manager Martin O'Neill and his men this weekend is a potential double bonus: entry into next term's Champions League qualifiers and the elimination of arch-rivals Rangers from the same competition. If Celtic win on Sunday, they're guaranteed to finish in the top two. Their chances of catching Hearts would be boosted and in one fell swoop they would also demote Rangers to third in the table.
There would be no vital top-tier European funding for the new American regime at Ibrox with which to bankroll their ongoing rebuild. The nightmare scenario for Celtic fans and board alike, after the calamities of their own season, would have been to watch Rangers walk off with the Premiership - and with it the possibility of dropping directly into the league phase of the continent's premier club competition. It is now exceptionally unlikely Rangers can catch both Celtic and Hearts from a seven-point deficit to the league leaders with just three games left.