Newly promoted Rangers found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-1 drubbing courtesy of a rampant Celtic during two the sides Old Firm match-up yesterday afternoon.
Whilst Brendan Rodgers’side largely had new boy Moussa Dembele to thank after the Frenchman scored a hat-trick, much of the attention was on the midfield battle between Celtic captain Scott Brown and Rangers’ hell-raiser Joey Barton.
The former Man City and QPR midfielder had stirred the pot dramatically prior to kick off by saying the immortal words “He ain’t in my league,” when referencing Brown on Alan Brazil’s Sports Breakfast.
Perhaps the Celtic battler had Barton in mind when delivering this salt rubbing quip during his sides post match interview.
Quizzed on the midfield battle by Sky Sports, he said;
“Easy, it was fine, it wasn’t a problem, There was no battling whatsoever.”
Asked who came out on top in their duel, he replied: “I think the scoreline talks for itself. It was pretty much men versus boys at the end of the day.
“We are a good team, we are very close together and I think that showed out there on the park.”
Whilst the two players didn’t not clash during the 90 minutes, they did exchange words after the second Celtic goal. “Just made sure he was all right,” said Brown when asked about the incident. “And was he?” asked the reporter. “I think so,” replied Brown with wry smile.
A stinging rebuke. Here’s the video.
Scott Brown says it was "Men against Boys" with Joey Barton pic.twitter.com/jtcS2t1o4o
— Farce (@Farce1111) September 10, 2016
No doubt Celtic will see the performance as the ideal preperation ahead of their daunting mid-week Champions League trip to the Nou Camp. Rangers on the other hand will be hoping to pick themselves up quickly if they want to mount a championship challenge.