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The squads take the field amid the roar, Hampden divided in two into blue and green. For the opportunity to meet St Mirren FC at this venue in December … the action begins.

Other Football

More matches: John Brewin is on our minute-by-minute coverage for West Ham vs Newcastle in England's top flight; Yara El-Shaboury has all the latest from the initial games in the women's top division.

Regarding our coverage, we're only five minutes away until kick-off at Hampden!

Referee Information

Nick Walsh will referee this afternoon. He also refereed the 2024 Scottish Cup final involving Celtic and Rangers and a Europa League match the previous campaign where he showed four sending-offs and a dozen bookings. Don't cross him.

Coaching Perspectives

Danny Röhl: Although this marks his initial Old Firm, the fresh-faced gaffer has made it clear recently that he's familiar with taking part in other important local clashes during his managerial journey, at Bayern Munich and with Sheffield Wednesday.

I recall when Hansi Flick assumed control, our second game was versus Dortmund at home. We secured a 4-0 victory. It consistently offers motivation when you triumph in such matches. Furthermore, in England's second tier in the Steel derby, I was involved in that as well. I understand the significance for the fans. This represents more than a simple match.

The young coach has been praising the enduring career of 73-year-old Martin O'Neill.

I have tremendous respect for that type of coaching legacy. I believe it's always impressive in this profession when you sustain your career over decades in this industry and achieve success.

I'm only starting out of my career. I have a lot of work to do to come to this point but the good thing is we commence evenly matched, distinct coaching generations and we'll observe what we can bring with our teams in this fixture.

I am very excited. I've gained some experience yet I foresee an enormous event during Sunday's match. To be involved in this fixture, it's all or nothing. Victory means reaching the final, you lose, you're out. I believe all factors align for a great, great game.

Counterpart Perspective

The Celtic manager: The temporary Celtic boss has recently been recalling regarding his initial encounter against Rangers two and a half decades past, the 6-2 'Demolition Derby'.

Well, replicating that could be very challenging, scoring six goals against those opponents. I would accept an unattractive 1-0 win should we achieve it. Some lads come up and mention to me: 'That was a great game', and they weren't even born. They tell me their family members spoke about it regularly. It transformed into a crucial game for our club, not merely in that term, but possibly for sustained development.

The nervousness for about 72 hours before, and then should you secure success, tremendous relief. And I feel that's precisely the renowned Walter Smith frequently stated similarly, that relief outweighed other emotions. Yet these represented superb matches truly. It's still a fantastic fixture.

This constitutes a significant fixture for us. Truthfully, don't hide that reality. It's a semi-final encounter, it's an important game for us. Any Celtic-Rangers game represents a major event, however specifically because of the conditions of the recent days, if not recent weeks, absolutely.

Managerial Experience

Two new managers in the dugouts today yet there's a substantial disparity in Old Firm experience separating them. Danny Röhl is experiencing his first as the Rangers boss whereas Martin O'Neill prepares to oversee his twenty-eighth.

Today's result could have a major impact regarding the tenure O'Neill's return as (interim, for now) Celtic boss persists, as Ewan Murray has reflected.

The club might spend £5m in compensation to coax Kieran McKenna away from Ipswich. They might consider an even bigger gamble with Robbie Keane. The reigning champions may opt to give Nicky Hayen from Club Brugge a first taste of British football. These constitute chances in their own way. Even more than O'Neill? This is debatable.

First XIs

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

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

Marcelo Sarrachi starts preferred to Kieran Tierney on the left defensive flank. James Forrest is also omitted from the first team that beat Falkirk in midweek.

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 instead of Max Aarons on the right, including Mohamed Diomande taking Connor Barron's suspended place in midfield and Thelo Aasgaard chosen instead of Mikey Moore in attack.

Preamble

Hello and welcome to this Old Firm clash. It should be improved {than last time|compared to the previous meeting|versus