Celtic Must Rely on Mentality and Energy Against Rangers

Mika Baur insists Celtic cannot “pretty” their way past Rangers on Sunday – and says only raw mentality and energy will turn the derby their way at Celtic Park.

Martin O’Neill’s side were humiliated 3-0 in the League Cup at Ibrox last weekend, a bruising Old Firm defeat that stripped away any illusions about where this fixture will be won.

Baur has no interest in dressing it up.

“You will not win it with beautiful football and nice play,” the midfielder said, reflecting on the Ibrox loss and looking ahead to the rapid rematch in the Premiership. “Maybe you will score through it, but you will win the game on Sunday with a mentality and with energy.”

From hostile Ibrox to a one-sided roar

Celtic walked into a wall of noise last weekend, facing a 50,000-strong Rangers support with no away fans to dilute the hostility. They buckled.

“You could feel it's a special thing there,” Baur admitted. “It was like 50,000 people against you, you should handle that.”

On Sunday, the dynamic flips completely. A packed Celtic Park, around 60,000 home fans and no Rangers support inside the stadium. The responsibility, Baur says, is to turn that backing into something Rangers cannot live with.

“We have 60,000 on our side, so we should use that. We need everyone,” he said. “We players will give 100 per cent on the field and we need everybody else to get that energy back and win on Sunday.”

He has repeated the same message inside the dressing room all week: stay tight, feed off the crowd, raise the levels.

“I've said a couple of times now, stick together again, get the energy level really, really high on Sunday.”

‘It was not about tactics last Sunday’

O’Neill is known for structure and detail, and Baur is not dismissing that. But he is clear: Celtic were not undone by a chalkboard.

“Tactics are really important,” he said, “but as we all saw last Sunday, it was not about that. It was about tackling back, to run back. It was about that and we should bring that on Sunday.”

He still wants Celtic to play, to show the ball-playing side that has defined the club in better weeks.

“You don't want to stop playing good with the ball,” he added. “It's more about the energy, it's more about the mentality on Sunday, but it should be a good mix.”

The priority, though, is unambiguous.

“Sure you want to win. That's the first thing and in a couple of months, no one asks how you won. You want to play attractive football, if you want to do good with the ball, against the ball.”

Celtic were out-fought and out-run at Ibrox. On Sunday, with their own stadium behind them and their pride on the line, they have one chance to show that lesson has sunk in.