By now, everyone knows how this goes. An international publication ranks football’s biggest clubs, Celtic finish above Rangers, the complaints begin and the debate rumbles on until the next list appears.
Sports Illustrated’s ranking earlier this year followed the same script. Celtic were placed 22nd in the world, three places ahead of Rangers, and the reaction was every bit as predictable as the list itself.
The real question is not whether Sports Illustrated got every club in the right order. It is why the same verdict keeps appearing whenever somebody outside Scotland compares Celtic and Rangers.
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Why Celtic keep finishing above Rangers
Nobody at Sports Illustrated was trying to win an argument in Glasgow. They looked at football’s biggest clubs and put Celtic ahead of Rangers.
It was not the first time either. Different rankings use different methods, yet the outcome often looks remarkably similar. The methods change. The result rarely does.
Eventually, dismissing every list becomes harder than explaining why they keep ending the same way. Celtic finish above Rangers. Again.
What another Celtic ranking really says
The easy response is to laugh off another list and move on. That becomes a weaker argument every time another publication reaches exactly the same conclusion.
Outside Scotland, nobody is trying to score points in a rivalry that has divided Glasgow for generations. They are simply judging two football clubs and repeatedly arriving at the same verdict.
Nobody has to agree with Sports Illustrated’s rankings. They do have to explain why independent publications keep putting Celtic above Rangers whenever they try to rank football’s biggest clubs.
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