Celtic are getting ready to take on the Rangers in the final of the Scottish League Cup at Hampden Park. The last time that the two teams met in this game, the Hoops came out on top, thanks to a goal from Christopher Jullien. On the other hand, the last Glasgow Derby at the venue went in favour of the Ibrox side.
Celtic are leading the Premiership title race by nine points. On the other hand, both teams have been in great form after the World Cup break. All of that will go out of the window when they take to the Hampden Park pitch.
Some of Fashion Sakala’s comments before the big game on Sunday have raised a lot of eyebrows and created a lot of controversy. And Chris Sutton certainly was not amused by them.
Sutton wrote about the matter involving Sakala in his column in the Daily Record:
"Sakala might have been pandering to the masses in his Viaplay Cup Final press conference but I’m sure there were even sensible Rangers fans who would have groaned at some of his comments. Talking about Rangers being ‘better than Celtic’ when they failed to win the league last season and are nine points behind this year is just embarrassing. Calling Celtic ‘the other mob’ is no big deal really, but it’s all a bit naive from the attacker."
Rangers player slammed by Celtic hero before Scottish League Cup final
It is hard to see any positive to Sakala’s comments for the Rangers. On one hand, they will only act as extra motivation for the Celtic players before the big game, if they do need any more.
On the other hand, if the Rangers do end up losing the game, they look even worse. It is a lose-lose situation in many ways.
The job for the Celtic players is simple. To cancel out all the noise before the League Cup final and concentrate solely on the job at hand, that is to get ready.
One cannot help but admit that the Rangers have improved a lot since the arrival of Michael Beale as manager. As a result, Celtic must prepare for the best version of the Ibrox side. And if anything less shows up at Hampden Park, it won’t be their problem.