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The squads take the field amid the roar, Hampden Park separated evenly between blue and green. To earn the chance to play St Mirren in this stadium this December … the action begins.

Additional Fixtures

Other football: John Brewin is on our minute-by-minute coverage for West Ham v Newcastle in the Premier League; Yara El-Shaboury has all the latest from the early kick-offs in the Women's Super League.

Regarding our coverage, there's just over five minutes until kick-off at Hampden!

Match Officials

Nick Walsh will referee this match. He also refereed the 2024 Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Rangers and a continental game the previous campaign where he showed four dismissals and twelve cautions. Don't cross him.

Manager Insights

The German coach: Although this marks his initial Old Firm, the fresh-faced gaffer has stated clearly recently that he's used to participating in other major rivalries during his managerial journey, at Bayern Munich and with Sheffield Wednesday.

I recollect when Hansi Flick took over, our following match took place against Dortmund at our stadium. We triumphed 4-0. It is always a booster when you triumph in such matches. As well, in the EFL Championship in the Sheffield derby, I participated there too. I know what it means to the supporters. This transcends ordinary football.

The 36-year-old German has been praising the enduring career of 73-year-old Martin O'Neill.

I hold great admiration for such a coaching career. I consider it consistently remarkable in this profession when you sustain your career over decades in this business and accomplish your objectives.

I'm merely commencing of my career. I have substantial work ahead to achieve similar status but the good thing is we commence evenly matched, different generations and we'll observe what we can bring through our squads in this fixture.

I am very excited. I've accumulated certain experiences yet I foresee a massive occasion this Sunday. To participate in such a match, the stakes are extremely high. Victory means reaching the final, you lose, you're out. I feel all elements converge for an outstanding match.

Opposition Manager

Martin O'Neill: The Celtic interim manager has been reflecting this week regarding his initial encounter versus their rivals two and a half decades past, the famous 6-2 demolition.

Now, repeating that performance may prove quite arduous, scoring six goals against those opponents. I would accept a really lousy 1-0 victory if we managed to secure it. Some lads come up and inform me: 'That was a great game', despite not being born at the time. They tell me their grandfathers and fathers discussed it frequently. It became a really pivotal match for our team, not merely in that term, but probably for continuing on.

The anxiety for approximately three days prior to the match, and subsequently if you achieved victory, tremendous relief. And I believe that's exactly the great Walter Smith used to say about it as well, that it was relief more than anything else. However these were magnificent contests genuinely. It's still a fantastic fixture.

This is a big game for our team. Truthfully, don't hide that reality. It's a semi-final, it's an important game for our squad. Every Old Firm match is a big game, however specifically because of the conditions of recent times, if not recent weeks, definitely.

Managerial Experience

Two new managers leading their teams today but there's a big gap in rivalry knowledge among them. Danny Röhl encounters his inaugural as Rangers manager whereas Martin O'Neill prepares to oversee his twenty-eighth.

The outcome today may substantially affect on the duration O'Neill's second spell as temporary Celtic manager persists, as Ewan Murray has been pondering.

Celtic could pay £5m in compensation to lure Kieran McKenna from Ipswich Town. They could take an even bigger gamble with Robbie Keane. The title holders might choose to offer 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 (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 on the left defensive flank. James Forrest is additionally excluded 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 receives preference over Max Aarons on the right, including Mohamed Diomande replacing the banned Connor Barron in central areas and Thelo Aasgaard chosen instead of Mikey Moore in offensive positions.

Preamble

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