Ex-Celtic makes Rangers 'massive egg on face' claim over rivalry - as Chris Sutton gives Michael Beale praise

Chris Sutton has labelled Rangers’ Scottish Cup semi-final with Celtic on Sunday as “an enormous game”, claiming the Ibrox club have been guilty of ending up with “massive egg on their face" in the rivalry.

It is the fifth meeting between the sides this campaign with Rangers yet to win. The game also presents the team with their only realistic opportunity to win a trophy as they trail their rivals by 13 points in the league and lost the Viaplay Cup final earlier in the season. The former Parkhead star praised Michael Beale for his work since coming in but believes he will be "under major pressure” if his team don’t win.

“Domestically, Michael Beale - bar Celtic - has performed pretty well,” Sutton told The Overlap. “But if he loses the semi-final there will be Rangers fans questioning that whole appointment. That’s just the nature of Glasgow. You have to finish on top. Second is last and I think this is a big problem for him. He’s talked up - and a lot of the players do this at Rangers. They talk themselves up going into the Celtic games, ‘we’re going to see the real Rangers this time’, and they get massive egg on their face. This is an enormous game. It’s not a bigger game for Rangers but it’s a game where I think he’ll put himself under major pressure if Rangers don’t win.”At the same time, Sutton believes there is still pressure on Celtic but not to the same extent.“It’s not right to say there’s no pressure,” he said. “I don’t think Ange Postecoglou will view it like that and I don’t think the Celtic players will view it like that. What you want to do is rub your rival’s nose right in it and that’s what they’ll be looking to do. But in terms of the way it will be viewed by Rangers fans after the game if they don’t win, there will be pressure on Michael Beale.

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"You think as a player, you’ve got to win the league. Cup competitions are important but they’re a bonus. If Celtic end up losing this match for whatever reason, I don’t think Celtic fans will be looking at Ange Postecoglou and doubting him. That’s absolutely not going to be the case.”

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