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The squads take the field amid the roar, Hampden Park divided in two with blue and green sections. To earn the chance to meet St Mirren here this December … the action begins.

Other Football

Additional games: John Brewin offers real-time commentary for West Ham v Newcastle in the EPL; Yara El-Shaboury has all the latest from the early kick-offs in the Women's Super League.

As for us, there's just over five minutes before the start at the national stadium!

Referee Information

Nick Walsh is the man in the middle today. He previously officiated last year's Scottish Cup final featuring these two rivals and a continental game last season where he showed four sending-offs and a dozen bookings. Avoid challenging him.

Manager Insights

The Rangers manager: While this is his first Old Firm, the fresh-faced gaffer has emphasized recently that he's familiar with being involved in other important local clashes in his coaching career, during his time at Bayern and with Sheffield Wednesday.

I can remember when Hansi Flick took over, our following match was at home against Dortmund. We secured a 4-0 victory. It consistently offers motivation following success in these encounters. Furthermore, in England's second tier in the Steel derby, I participated there too. I know what it means to the supporters. This represents more than a simple match.

The German manager has also been lauding Martin O'Neill's lengthy tenure at 73.

I have tremendous respect for such a managerial journey. I believe it's always impressive as a manager when you sustain your career over decades in this business and achieve success.

I'm only starting out my coaching path. There's much work remaining to reach that level though the encouraging factor we begin level, different generations and we'll discover what we can demonstrate with our teams in this game.

I am very excited. I've accumulated certain experiences but I expect a big, big one this Sunday. To be part of such a game, the stakes are extremely high. You win, you go into the final, you lose, you're out. I feel all elements converge for an outstanding match.

Opposition Manager

The experienced boss: The Celtic interim manager has been reflecting this week regarding his initial encounter with Rangers a quarter-century ago, the memorable 6-2 victory.

Certainly, matching that achievement might be extremely difficult, netting six times against those opponents. I'd settle for a really lousy 1-0 victory if we managed to secure it. Various individuals tell me and inform me: 'That was an amazing match', though they weren't alive then. They tell me their ancestors and parents spoke about it regularly. It evolved into a decisive encounter for us, not just that season, but likely for future progress.

The anxiety for approximately three days beforehand, and then should you secure success, tremendous relief. And I feel that's precisely the great Walter Smith frequently stated similarly, that it was relief more than anything else. But they were fantastic fixtures truly. It remains a wonderful encounter.

This represents an important match for our club. Honestly, don't conceal that fact. It's a semi-final, it's a crucial contest for us. Any Celtic-Rangers game represents a major event, but particularly given the conditions of recent times, possibly even months, definitely.

Dugout History

Two new managers leading their teams today though there's a significant difference in Old Firm experience among them. Danny Röhl is experiencing his first as the Rangers boss while Martin O'Neill gets ready to manage his twenty-eighth.

Today's result might significantly influence regarding the tenure O'Neill's return as temporary Celtic manager lasts, as Ewan Murray has reflected.

Celtic could pay five million pounds in compensation to persuade Kieran McKenna from Ipswich Town. They may attempt a larger risk with Robbie Keane. The title holders could decide to provide Club Brugge's Nicky Hayen an initial experience of British football. These are all gambles to varying degrees. More than O'Neill? This is debatable.

Starting Lineups

Celtic (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Ralston, Trusty, Scales, Sarrachi; McGregor, Engels, Nygren; Maeda, Kenny, Tounekti.

Substitutes: Sinisalo, Balikwisha, Yang, Osmand, McCowan, Hatate, Murray, Forrest, Tierney.

Marcelo Sarrachi features ahead of Kieran Tierney at left-back. James Forrest also drops out of the XI that beat Falkirk during the week.

Rangers (3-4-3): Butland; Djiga, Souttar, Cornelius; Tavernier, Diomande, Raskin, Meghoma; Aasgaard, Chermiti, Danilo.

Substitutes: Kelly, Aarons, Fernández, Rothwell, Antman, Moore, Gassama, Curtis, Miovski.

James Tavernier gets the nod over Max Aarons on the right, featuring Mohamed Diomande for the suspended Connor Barron in central areas with Thelo Aasgaard favored over Mikey Moore in forward roles.

Match Preview

Greetings and welcome to this Old Firm clash. It ought to be superior {than last time|compared to the previous meeting|versus