Celtic will be seeking first Glasgow Derby win in 2025 | OneFootball

Celtic returned from Kazakhstan today carrying the pain of their Champions League disaster at the hands of Kairat but manager Brendan Rodgers, if he can stay awake after that gruelling 7000 mile round trip, will try to watch television coverage of the Champions League qualifier between Club Brugge and theRangers in Brussels.

theRangers manager Russell Martin. St Mirren v theRangers, 24 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Brugge have a 3-1 advantage from the first leg at Ibrox so it is going to take an incredible performance for Russell Martin to guide the latest Ibrox club into the Champions League at the first time of asking and picking up the best bonuses for bringing in perhaps around £40m to the Ibrox coffers.

The Celtic manager will be keen to watch how theRangers set-up as he looks for clues ahead of Sunday’s Glasgow Derby where Celtic have the somewhat shorter journey of just under six miles to reach Ibrox with the possibility of opening up a nine points advantage in the Scottish Premiership.

It will not be easy. Celtic have yet to beat theRangers this year in the Scottish Premiership and with the next meeting scheduled for Celtic Park on 3 January 2026, this is the last chance to do just that – in the league anyway. There’s always the chance that the two Glasgow giants will face-off in the Premier Sports League Cup if they can get past their quarter final opponents.

Celtic are away to Championship side Partick Thistle while theRangers take on Hibs at Ibrox in the quarter final ties that will be played mid-September.

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic looks on following the SPL Premier League match between Rangers FC and Celtic FC at Ibrox on January 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Strangely this Sunday’s Glasgow Derby is the fourth match of the year and Brendan Rodgers will be facing a third manager in home dug-out at Ibrox. Back in early January it was Philippe Clement in charge of theRangers and in what turned out to be his last Glasgow Derby he actually got his first victory with a dominant 3-0 win over a Celtic side who probably had a look at the league standings and reckoned that the title was in the bag.

Clement didn’t get another chance to take on Celtic after some dreadful results that followed including a Scottish Cup exit to Queen’s Park at Ibrox.

Barry Ferguson, Interim Manager of theRangers, celebrates with backroom staff after Mohamed Diomande scored the team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Barry Ferguson got the job on a caretaker basis and he managed to achieve something rather rare for the latest Ibrox club, by securing a 3-2 victory at Celtic Park in March. Like Clement. Ferguson couldn’t get a tune out of that squad in other games and there were too many frustrating performances and poor results to make him a serious contender for the vacancy.

Adam Idah celebrates scoring at Ibrox to level the score at 1-1. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Ferguson did take change of the most recent Glasgow Derby back in May which ended in a 1-1 draw with Adam Idah bringing Celtic level after Brendan Rodgers’ side trailed at the interval. Daizen Maeda had a glorious chance with the last kick of the game to win in for Celtic but he fluffed his lines while straight through on goal.

That kept Barry Ferguson as an unbeaten manager of theRangers and also ensured that Brendan Rodgers would have to wait to the new season for his chance to get a 2025 win over the new Ibrox club. That chance comes this Sunday.

theRangers manager Russell Martin. St Mirren v theRangers, 24 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Pre-2025 Brendan Rodgers has an incredible record against theRangers so this year’s poor return on no wins, one draw and two defeats will certainly annoy the Irishman. Facing him this weekend should be Russell Martin, the former Southampton manager who was appointed after an American investor take-over of theRangers this summer.

Martin has brought an entirely different playing style to theRangers and it’s one that has certainly had its teething troubles. After three league matches, Martin’s side has draw away to both Motherwell and more recently St Mirren with another drawn match at Ibrox against Dundee sandwiched between.

Benjamin Nygren celebrates scoring during Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

That’s six points dropped by Martin’s side while Celtic has won all three of their own league matches including a difficult trip to Pittodrie to get some revenge on Aberdeen after they shocked the Hoops and denied Brendan Rodgers a treble in the Scottish Cup Final in May.

And it’s fair to say that theRangers support are revolting and now want Russell Martin sacked. It could actually happen before the Champions League playoff second leg in Brussels on Wednesday night. Or he could get his marching orders if his side lose that match. Or he may struggle on to Sunday and look to turn things around by beating Celtic.

Philippe Clement after i the 2024 Scottish Cup Final defeat to at Hampden. Photo Vagelis Georgariou for The Celtic Star

Clement had suffered badly at the hands of Celtic but eventually found a way to win back on 3 January 2025. He never got a chance to build on that but Barry Ferguson did and that 3-2 victory at Celtic Park for theRangers meant that Brendan Rodgers for the first time over this two stints as Celtic manager, suffered back-to-back defeats to theRangers.

Rodgers will fancy his chances on Sunday but must factor in the impact of the travelling to and from Kazakhstan and also the result of Celtic’s playoff against Kairat. However there’s a chance that Russell Martin will be gone and his tactics with him with theRangers reverting to the tried and tested come Sunday under a caretaker boss. You never know. It might even be Barry Ferguson.

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