They have become the practised oppressors of this beleaguered Rangers team.

The Ibrox side were fully at the mercy on Saturday as Celtic casually inflicted a result that salted wounds and more than just flexed some muscle. It may stretch the point to suggest that the course of a single game can reduce a team to their knees, but this was an afternoon that will haunt the psyche of Rangers for some time to come.

It stands now at an aggregate scoreline of 16-4 over the six games that have played out between the teams this season. And from the opening minutes, this was a Rangers team cowed into submission; Josh Windass was brushed off the ball in the opening seconds by Stuart Armstrong and from there on in they stood and watched as Celtic romped their way through a win that was every bit as comprehensive as the scoreline suggested.

There was some social media banter before the game about a guard of honour at Ibrox, but as it transpired Rangers did not need to stand and salute before a ball was kicked given the manner in which they stood reverentially off their opponents for 90 minutes.

Celtic, with the league in the bag, might have expected a reaction given the meekness of Rangers at Hampden last week.

And yet, it was from the Parkhead ranks where players performed with the zest of revolutionaries fighting for the cause; Jozo Simunovic hurled himself through Kenny Miller after winning the ball in a moment that almost led to a third Celtic goal – the woodwork prevented Leigh Griffiths adding his second of the day – but it was not just the hardness of physique that intimidated Rangers.

That physicality was matched by a spirit and energy that Rangers had no answer for.

This season could have been encapsulated by one snapshot in the immediate minutes following the full-time whistle. As the Celtic players waltzed towards their own jubilant support to join in the party, Brendan Rodgers calmly pulled Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata back from the fray.

To the casual bystander it made for a comical scene; the two towering centre-halves dwarfing Rodgers in the middle. And yet, they listened intently – party playing out yards in front of them – as the Celtic manager gesticulated, tutoring with his hands as he replayed the one blemish of what was an otherwise pristine performance.

The instructions were brief before he sent the two players scuttling towards the dancing and singing, while Rodgers himself, after brief applause, turned his back on the fun to meander back towards the dressing room.

It was a sober reaction to a frenzied afternoon.

It is difficult to understate just how dominant Celtic were – or just how critical Rodgers has been to this juggernaut of a season. One landmark after another has come and gone this term, all received with passive appreciation, but little more.

This Celtic team currently stands poised on the brink of history with an unbeaten record – they are currently 42 domestic games without defeat – while the deliverance of a fourth domestic Treble is just one game away.

For those at Ibrox, those stats will be galling enough. But the manner of the defeat on Saturday was more than just a bloody nose.

Leigh Griffiths and Mikael Lustig both insisted in the aftermath that it could have been more and neither was at the wind-up. There were at least three other significant chances – one Scott Sinclair sclaff at the back post immediately springs to mind – that could have brought forth a mightier scoreline.

Not that it mattered hugely. In all the encounters between the teams, there can scarcely have been a more lopsided contest. Last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final win was dominant and emphatic but this one went a step further – and in the home of their rivals.

It was a mauling and then some.

Myles Beerman has had the toughest of introductions to this fixture. The teenager was reckless in the tackle of Patrick Roberts that brought forth the first goal from the spot from the nerveless Sinclair and his afternoon did not get any better as Roberts teased and tormented him on the flank.

Griffiths blasted the second, Callum McGregor the third, Boyata the fourth and Lustig a classy fifth.

Armstrong has found himself in the spotlight this season after earning a call-up to the Scotland squad on the back of central midfield displays at Celtic that have provided evidence of the work that goes on at Lennoxtown.

McGregor’s progress has been less marked but the 23-year-old has shown a maturity in his performances of later. His goal at Hampden last weekend was followed by another on Saturday – the third of the afternoon at Ibrox – and the player deserves to

His performance against Rangers was more than just industrious. Supplementing the aggression of the forward play, McGregor was at the heart of much of Celtic’s momentum as they cut through Rangers time and time again.

In Scott Brown they had a captain who set the tone in the middle of the park and orchestrated the result. Brown and Miller – the only Rangers player with any heart for the fight – exchanged pleasantries on more than one occasion during the 90 minutes but it was the Hoops captain who came away smiling.

Where the opening half carried a nasty undercurrent - batteries thrown onto the pitch, a fan confronting Scott Brown and monkey gestures directed towards Sinclair set the tone - by the hour mark it had dissipated as Ibrox started to empty.

There was a theory to suggest the empty stands matched the empty jerseys.

For Celtic, though, it was another step on what could be a landmark journey.