It won’t be too long before Celtic and Rangers meet again.
Whatever happens, Celtic just have Rangers’ number and that was proven after their League Cup final triumph at Hampden on Sunday.
Things weren’t looking great when Rangers opened the scoring, but as all great champions do, Brendan Rodgers watched his team fight back and claim a historic victory.
That’s trophy number 119 for Celtic, no team in the history of Scottish football has more and it, rightfully, puts the Bhoys top of the pile.
But that wasn’t the only record being spoken about after Daizen Maeda’s winning penalty.
Rodgers has only lost once in 20 meetings against Rangers – and the man in the opposition dugout – Philippe Clement – is yet to win against the Irishman.
After Celtic’s penalty shootout win over Rangers, Chris Sutton wanted to send a few messages to the Rangers boss.
Chris Sutton slams Philippe Clement’s budget claim after Celtic beat Rangers
Days before the cup final, Celtic hero Ange Postecoglou returned to Glasgow with Tottenham and recorded a 1-1 draw against Rangers in the Europa League.
It saw Clement cry about Spurs, and also Celtic, having ‘greater budgets’ than his Rangers side, but Sutton was quick to shut that down after the cup final win.
The former striker rightfully pointed towards Rangers being 11 points behind Celtic in the table and how he ‘failed to mention’ that their budget is ‘considerably bigger’ than everybody else in the league, but they aren’t making it count, as he told It’s All Kicking Off Podcast.
“Big Phil talked last week about budgets and Rangers were playing two teams with greater budgets, Tottenham and then Celtic,” said Sutton.
“But he failed to mention that every other week in the Scottish Premier League, Rangers’ budget is considerably bigger than everybody else’s.
Sutton warns ‘end of the road’ for Clement at Rangers ahead of next Celtic meeting
Celtic and Rangers will lock horns again on January 2 at Ibrox in the Premiership, with Rodgers having another chance to improve on his record.
Yes, Rodgers will go for a win here, but even a draw will suit given the huge gap between the two, but Sutton had another simple message.
He thinks that, if Clement loses here, then it will be ‘the end of the road’ because he ‘can’t keep losing to Rodgers’.
“He’s been in a while now,” added Sutton about Clement. “He hasn’t beaten Brendan Rodgers in six games. It was huge for him (the League Cup final) and, if we are being balanced, we can say Rangers can take a fair bit out of the way that they played.
“But still, he needed that trophy and the pressure will be on. They pushed Celtic, but Celtic are fighting on all fronts as well and maybe going through a patch where their form has been patchy and they are playing in moments, but getting over the line was a big deal. A possible Treble.
“Rangers now are under pressure. You look at the league table and 11 points the gap. They play each other on January 2, which is huge, it’s at Ibrox. Clement can’t keep losing to Brendan Rodgers. If he loses that one, then I think it will be the end of the road for him.
