Celtic star: Rangers struggles mean Old Firm rivalry has lost its hype

Mikael Lustig believes the Celtic and Rangers rivalry has lost some of its ‘hype and hatred’ because of the Ibrox’s side continued struggles.

Mikael Lustig believes the Celtic and Rangers rivalry has lost some of its ‘hype and hatred’ because of the Ibrox’s side continued struggles.

The Parkhead defender insists it’s more important to win derby matches when the two clubs are tight in the league table, something which hasn’t been the case since Rangers returned to the top flight for the 2016/17 season.

The Ibrox club finished 39 points behind their rivals in the league table last term while watching Celtic record a historic treble-winning campaign.

The Hoops won five of the six derbies contested in that season and have continued the trend into the current one, winning 2-0 at Ibrox last month.

In an interview in the Tutto Balutto podcast in Sweden, Lustig said: “I don’t think it’s the same hype, the same kind of hatred that you had back in the day.

“Rangers are nowhere near us now. I imagine the tighter it is, the more important it gets to win the derbies.

“We’ve won everything during my time here.”