'Celtic disappearing over horizon as Europe looms into view'

It could have been the game in microcosm.

Fifty minutes in, Celtic leading 2-0, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Cyriel Dessers going for a loose ball.

Carter-Vickers wins the physical battle to such an overwhelming extent that Dessers ended up on the floor with the American looking back at him, in the way you might look at roadkill.

In every department worth mentioning, Celtic won a landslide victory. Rangers won the yellow card count. That was about it.

From somewhere, Rangers manager Philippe Clement imagined a scenario where the game could have ended 3-2 or 3-3.

It was a comment that will draw the same kind of blank expressions you see when historians are asked about the location of the Holy Grail or the resting place of the Mary Celeste.

There was always a probability that Celtic would make this a rout if they hit their stride.

Well, they hit it in a way they haven’t hit it in this fixture for a couple of seasons - and they won nearly all of those previous ones.

Speed of thought, speed of action, mind and muscle - they were streets ahead.

They worked harder, countered quicker. Like vultures, they feasted on the errors they forced Rangers into making.

All the usual Old Firm hits played out - Daizen Maeda’s tormenting of James Tavernier, Callum McGregor’s domination in midfield, Kyogo Furuhashi’s brilliant finishing.

But there was new stuff, too. Celtic lost a big player in Matt O’Riley, but the sharpness of McGregor, Kuhn and Paulo Bernardo made his loss redundant.

Nicolas Kuhn was wonderful wide on the right, a constant source of movement and menace.

Celtic were a class apart. It was all pretty simple for them.

'Celtic will surely win league at canter'

The rivalry between these teams will always remain, but it’s a thing of geography and history these days.

It doesn’t really transfer on to the pitch all that much, not when the only time that Celtic have lost a game against Rangers in the last 13 meetings was a dead rubber when they’d already secured the title.

We want a title chase, but the evidence of Sunday is that we’re not going to get one.

Rangers have a pile of work to do. They have too many players they still need to move out and too many better ones that they need to find.

They’re in the midst of the dreaded concept ‘The Project'. They need players and they need patience to get on with it.

Finding the former will be as much of a challenge as receiving the latter.

Celtic are too well-coached, too settled, too good. They’ll surely win the league at a canter, but that’s not the testing ground for them anymore. It can’t be.

They’ve proven in 12 of the last 13 seasons that they’re better than Rangers. It’ll become 13 in 14. Great for them, but what else?

Europe. The Champions League. A kindly-enough draw in the new format that gives them a chance of doing something in that competition after so many failures in the last decade, many of the worst ones coming on Rodgers’ watch.

Beating up Rangers brought Celtic Park to a dizzy high and, as it unfolded, you wondered if any of their best stuff can be brought to bear on a bigger stage.

That’s the tantalising thought for Celtic folk, that the work-rate and energy and the slickness of their attack can unleash a new kind of Celtic on Europe.

Their fans have a right to dream. Pre-season brought victories over Chelsea and Manchester City and gave them a momentum that they’ve carried on.

Auston Trusty and Alex Valle are in and bring depth to the defensive options.

Arne Engels is apparently their biggest-ever signing and his presence on the bench seemed to draw out the best in Bernardo, who was strong and influential.

Luke McCowan adds to the midfield. Adam Idah is a fine counter-balance to what Kyogo brings.

This looks a Celtic team, and squad, heading quickly in the right direction.

On Sunday, Rangers were a small speed-bump and nothing more.

Celtic are disappearing over their horizon and they need to somehow remain calm in that reality. Obsessing about what their neighbours are doing, and spending madly in a bid to catch up, has led them down some dark roads in recent years.

The clubs operate in the same eco-system but the gulf is large and, on occasions like Sunday when Celtic are so alive, it can become vast.

As tough a concept as it might be to get the head around, Rangers can’t be Celtic’s barometer. That’s not the measure of their worth.

That examination comes across eight match days between September and January, when Celtic must punch up rather than punch down. The message from Sunday is that they might be ready to give it a rattle.