Kris Boyd states what will happen inside Ibrox with Rangers fans if Celtic score first

Celtic’s penalty shootout victory over Rangers in the League Cup final at Hampden last month demonstrated this.

Before and after that game, Rangers fans were in cloud cuckoo land, believing that there was still a possibility to narrow the Premiership gap.

In the present, Celtic are 14 points ahead of Rangers, thanks to Rodgers’ positive performances throughout the festive season, while Philippe Clement’s side continues to disappoint.

Daizen Maeda scored just 20 seconds at Ibrox in April, and after his heroics in the League Cup final, he’ll be eager to add to that total.

Kris Boyd is bracing for the worst heading into the match, declaring that the ‘league is over’ regardless of what occurs.

According to the former striker, if Celtic score first, Ibrox will get ‘ugly’ due to the presence of ‘mad’ Rangers fans before the game begins (Sky Sports News, 01/01/25 @ 10:20 am).

According to Boyd, there is a lot of negativity surrounding Rangers’ upcoming game against Celtic. “There were questions asked a few weeks ago. If you look at it now, obviously, they lost at St Mirren and the draw against Motherwell. The changes that were made to the team. There is a lot of negativity surrounding Rangers going into this Celtic game.

“Depending on what happens, I believe there will be a large number of angry Rangers fans at Ibrox.” If Celtic starts well and scores the first goal, there will be 51,000 Rangers fans in the stadium, and things might get ugly – even if Rangers wins, Celtic will be 11 points ahead. “The league is over.”

As Rodgers perfectly stated in August, ‘it’s a Rangers thing’.

In 2018, Rangers abandoned the tradition of allowing 7,500 Celtic fans into Ibrox, as reported by BBC Sport.

So, understandably, Celtic followed suit, and Rodgers, who returned to the club last summer, made his sentiments known at the start of the season.

“Celtic have played their part in what they were asked to do,” remarked Brendan Rodgers. “When you think back to when this all started, it had nothing to do with Celtic.

“Celtic get drawn into this as a Celtic-Rangers issue. This is a Rangers-related issue, not a Celtics issue.

“When asked to have this arrangement, to make the stadium safe, we put money into it, which began months ago. That has not been agreed upon by both parties, therefore it is not complicated and has not been completed.”

Brendan Rodgers has a strong record against Rangers, having only lost once in his two stints. He hopes to continue this streak at Ibrox on Thursday.

Last month, Celtic won the League Cup final against Rangers in a thrilling and exciting Glasgow derby.

Celtic’s squad quality has improved both before and since the game.

This is as strong as it has ever been, and you’re constantly looking at the bench because there are so many huge names and high-quality players on there.