‘After the Old Firm game everyone killed us, everyone wanted us to fail. But we knew’ - Nir Bitton on Celtic’s winning mentality

There is a perception that Rangers have handed Celtic the title. Nir Bitton would beg to differ.

Celtic's Nir Bitton celebrates with Tom Rogic after his injury-time equaliser against Livingston. Picture: Craig Foy / SNS

The defender is not interested in ruminating on whether it is a surprise that the Scottish champions find themselves 13 points ahead of their rivals only 40-odd days after the pair were practically neck-and-neck.

But the Israeli, returned to Celtic’s starting line-up in the past week, can point to the fortunes of both clubs on Wednesday night as to why the clubs’ Premiership trajectories have deviated so much since the resumption following the winter break – a period when Steven Gerrard’s men were meant to make good on the momentum gained with their derby success at Celtic in the sides’ final match of 2019.

As Rangers were going down at home to Hamilton the other night, it looked like Neil Lennon’s side would also lose as they trailed 2-1 at Livingston. However, instead of the points difference between the two remaining at 12 points, Celtic’s pressure paid off with a 92nd-minute equaliser that prevented a first defeat following 11 straight domestic wins since January.

The turn of events was in sharp contrast to those unfolding at Ibrox as Rangers wilted again in the face of the pressure that has built up as they have imploded in 2020. The loss to Hamilton was the sixth domestic game of 12 they have failed to win since the shutdown – a run in which their Scottish Cup prospects were ended by Hearts.

“It’s football,” Bitton said of the 13-point chasm that means his club can already start printing the nine-in-a-row T-shirts. “Liverpool are 22 points clear in the Premier League and nobody expected them to be that. It’s a good advantage for us but we created it, we made it happen. I think after the Old Firm game before the winter break everyone killed us, everyone wanted us to fail. But we have a winning mentality around the dressing room, around the club. A belief. And we knew that if we were to do things right we would come back stronger.

“It’s a long way to go, though. Still nine games, and 27 points is enough points to try to close the gap. We need to make sure it’s not going to happen. We need to make sure we remain focused, remain 
concentrated.

“We don’t care about other teams, we don’t care about what people outside the club are saying, we concentrate on ourselves. We know that if we do things right, it’s very, very difficult to play against us. It’s very difficult to match our play because we have good players all around the pitch, and we have good players on the bench that can change the game for us. And this is a special, special club to be at.”

Bitton considers Celtic’s strengths came together to retrieve a point at Almondvale that looked unlikely for so much of the second half. It was snatched because Lennon’s side refused to accept it wasn’t going to be their night, and substitutes Leigh Griffiths, Jeremie Frimpong and stoppage-time scorer Tom Rogic gave them the impetus to break down an impressively rugged Livingston, a devilishly tough nut to crack on their plastic pitch and no respecter of reputations.

“We always believe in ourselves,” said the 28-year-old. “After we scored, I felt quite comfortable and felt we were going to have a good night. But, then we gave away two goals, we had to chase the game. And guys on the bench did that. Every away game in the Scottish league is difficult. Everyone wants to stop us, everyone wants to beat us, to be the hero. We need to accept it, we need to face it, we need to match it. And we do it every week, and just need to keep going.”

Football, like all aspects of normal life, is struggling simply to keep going in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. A number of sporting events have already been postponed. As a result, Bitton isn’t altogether certain that he will be facing up to many of his Celtic team-mates as Scotland host Israel in the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final on 26 March. The Scottish FA has maintained there is no danger to the fixture, but the player isn’t so sure.

“The coronavirus is coming so I don’t know if the game is going to be on,” he said. “I hope for Scotland [as a country] it is not gonna happen.”