Exclusive: Henrik Larsson tells Celtic new guys: you can be heroes against Rangers

Celtic have a number of players with no experience of the fixture – Scott Sinclair, Dorus de Vries, Kolo Toure, Moussa Dembele and Cristian Gamboa have just arrived at the club but will all be expected to play some part – and Larsson has told them that this is the game to make an impact.

The iconic Swede was on both sides of results in a seven-year spell with Celtic and he is well aware of what the impact is of coming out of a game with Rangers with all three points.

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Larsson saw players buckle in the fixture on both sides – Fernando Ricksen and Craig Moore had torrid times in games against Celtic during Martin O’Neill’s tenure – but he has insisted that this is the game in which to underline a reputation.

“That never happened to me, I am glad to say!” he smiled, when asked about the expectation levels affecting some players.

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“Some guys handle the bigger games better than others but if you want to make it at Celtic this is the game where you can go and be a hero. And who doesn’t want to be a hero? This is the game where people will love you and talk about you forever if you can be trusted to do something.

“There is always so much at stake in any game that you play against Rangers. It is about winning and getting three points, but it is also a bit more than that too. You have to enjoy that. As a player, for me, I loved these games. It is awful to lose and difficult to shake off the feelings of disappointment you have after a defeat but when you win it is a beautiful feeling. To score in those games was always something special for me.”

Larsson followed up his time at Celtic with a successful period with Barcelona, a journey which led him to a Champions League winners’ medal. He also had a brief spell with Manchester United in the English Premiership but he remains convinced that Glasgow offers up the most mouth-watering derby.

“When I was in Spain I was asked a lot about the derbies because I have been very lucky that way,” he said. “But I always felt that the Spanish derby was nothing like the Glasgow derby.

“For one thing, Barcelona and Madrid are two different cities. On Glasgow, the distance between the two clubs is nothing. It is a proper derby in Glasgow.

“There was a different culture in Spain too; supporters do not really travel to away games whereas at Celtic Park or Ibrox the atmosphere was created by two opposing sets of fans. So for me, the Celtic v Rangers game is the biggest of them all.

“It is phenomenal. What they have in common is that they both carry a meaning outside of football but for me I always had to keep my focus only on the sporting side of things. All that ever mattered to me was winning. It is all that ever matters.”

Larsson’s highlights of games against Rangers are many; there was his inimitable chip which beat Stefan Klos in the 6-2 game – a goal the Swede classifies as one of his career favourites – but there was also the game at Ibrox in April 2001 when he netted his 50th goal of a season that delivered the Golden Boot in a 3-0 win over the Ibrox side.

“Those games seem like a long time ago now,” said Larsson, with some modesty. “All Old Firm derbies are special games, but only if you win.

“It really is amazing to score in these games and be on the winning side because you can sense always what they mean to the club and to the supporters. I always felt very level-headed going into them but you can feel the emotion in the game. There are a lot of things going on in them but for me scoring and winning, that was all it was about.

“There is an energy to them but as a player, if you want to win, you have to try and be calm. If you lose your focus then you will struggle.”

Larsson, managing with Helsingborgs, will tune into Saturday’s game against Rangers, the first league meeting between the sides since 2012.

He is another, like Martin O’Neill, who concurs with the theory that the Scottish game benefits from thee fixture being a regular occurrence on the domestic calendar.

“They are the biggest games of the season in Scotland and I am happy that we will be seeing them regularly again,” he said.

“Even here in Sweden, people know that they are big games. They have an appeal to people outside of Scotland, people who do not support Celtic or Rangers but who love football and enjoy watching classic football matches.

“It was not so long ago that myself and Johan [Mjallby] were playing and the Swedes remember that. They love watching the games and lots of people have been asking me about it.

“I wouldn’t have anything to say on what has happened with Rangers because I don’t really know. I just believe that if you want to talk about football then this it is a good thing to have the game between Celtic and Rangers back. Everyone wants to see it, people like to talk about it. That’s a good thing.”