Celtic Must Prioritize Mentality Over Aesthetics in Sunday’s Derby

Mika Baur insists Celtic will not win Sunday’s derby against Rangers by trying to be pretty.

The midfielder, still stung by last weekend’s 3-0 League Cup defeat at Ibrox, believes the rematch at Celtic Park will be decided by attitude, not aesthetics.

“You will not win it with beautiful football and nice play,” he said, laying down the challenge ahead of Martin O’Neill’s side facing Rangers again, this time in the Scottish Premiership. “Maybe you will score through it, but you will win the game on Sunday with a mentality and with energy.”

From Ibrox hostility to Parkhead fury

Celtic were overrun in Govan, knocked out of the cup in front of a 50,000-strong Rangers support. Baur felt the full force of that environment.

“You could feel it's a special thing there [Old Firm game],” he said. “It was like 50,000 people against you, you should handle that.”

Now the setting flips. No away allocation. A packed Celtic Park. And Baur wants every decibel.

“On Sunday it's completely different. We have 60,000 on our side, so we should use that. We need everyone,” he said. “We players will give 100 per cent on the field and we need everybody else to get that energy back and win on Sunday.”

The message is simple: no fractures, no sulking, no dwelling on Ibrox.

“I've said a couple of times now, stick together again, get the energy level really, really high on Sunday,” he added.

‘It was not about tactics last Sunday’

Baur is clear. Game plans matter, but they were not what failed Celtic in the cup defeat.

“Tactics are really important, but as we all saw last Sunday, it was not about that,” he said. “It was about tackling back, to run back. It was about that and we should bring that on Sunday.”

He is not calling for Celtic to abandon their style. He wants a harder edge wrapped around it.

“You don't want to stop playing good with the ball,” he said. “It's more about the energy, it's more about the mentality on Sunday, but it should be a good mix.”

At this stage, he knows only one thing will be remembered.

“Sure you want to win. That's the first thing and in a couple of months, no one asks how you won. You want to play attractive football, if you want to do good with the ball, against the ball.”

Celtic’s response now comes under the fiercest possible spotlight: same opponent, different stadium, and no hiding place if the mentality is wrong.