Celts and Gers have tricky ties in many ways

CELTIC and Rangers may not just be playing for a place in the group stage of the Europa League tonight.

The outcome of the games might also have a key bearing on which one of them wins the Premiership title.

Sarajevo and Galatasaray stand between the Old Firm and the chance to progress into and beyond the group stage of the competition for the second successive campaign.

There are so many more things resting on the results though.

Prestige is always what springs to mind when it comes to qualification. The co-efficient points and the stature of the clubs and the country on the Continent when they can pull off big wins.

But, although always having significance, the pound notes are even more important to the clubs during this period of lost revenue with no matchday income.

Neil Lennon is looking for a left-sided defender and Steven Gerrard is hunting a midfielder.

The lure of playing in the group stage of Europe might just swing the deal to get a certain one. And the potential £5million windfall from making it through, when you take in TV money and prize money, might just pay for the one that gives them an edge.

It’s not just signing players. Celtic and Rangers have suitors knocking on the door asking about their best players and, although the cash for selling some of them would dwarf what they could get for reaching the groups, it might still make it slightly easier for those in charge to turn any bids down.

There is, of course, also the question of fatigue and respite to the players when it comes to getting through or not.

Looking at the calendar going forward, it is punishing. The players, especially those who also represent their countries at various levels, are barely going to get a rest for months.

It could be relentless, yet the flip side of not making it through in Europe might just have a weirdly positive effect on the domestic business.

If one of Celtic and Rangers makes it through, there will be six midweeks of rest and recuperation before Christmas for one of them while the other is

Not making it through in Europe may have a positive effect on home front

going through gruelling group games, undergoing travel to three matches as well as playing the home ones.

Players are already dropping this term.

Going from total inactivity for almost five months during lockdown to 180 minutes every week of the year is not a simple transition for players of any club.

Whichever way tonight’s games in Bosnia and Glasgow go, they will have a longterm impact on the Premiership title race.

That’s an absolute certainty.