It was a defining weekend at the top of the cinch Premiership but also a significant one throughout the table.
The first fixture list after the split produced drama in abundance.
Here, the PA news agency picks out five things we learned from the weekend’s action.
Celtic are champions again
It was a matter of when and not if Celtic clinched the title after beating Rangers again at Parkhead and they wrapped it up with a 2-0 success against Hearts at Tynecastle. They came through a tough 45 minutes and were helped by a contentious red card for Alex Cochrane but the opening goal was a fitting piece of play from three key contributors throughout the campaign. Callum McGregor’s lofted pass found the run of Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi was on hand to net his 30th goal of the season.
Out with the old, in with the new for Rangers
Allan McGregor, Alfredo Morelos and the injured Ryan Kent were notable absentees from the Gers starting line-up after Scottish Cup defeat by Celtic effectively ended their season. Michael Beale had promised Gers fans they would see goalkeeper Robby McCrorie before the end of the season and he replaced veteran keeper McGregor for the 1-0 win over Aberdeen. It was a first Gers outing for the 25-year-old since playing in a 1-0 win over Celtic in August, 2021. McCrorie put in a solid performance against the Pittodrie side, making good saves from Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes and Shayden Morris in particular. Morelos’ chances of playing against Celtic next week look slim after Beale’s analysis of his performance: “I think you saw a difference when Alfredo came on in terms of energy but not a positive difference as well.”
A good week for Hibernian in the race for Europe
There have been times this season when Lee Johnson has been under immense pressure amid fears his Hibs side might fail to make the top six, but the Edinburgh side appear be coming good at just the right time to qualify for Europe. Their 2-1 victory over St Mirren on Saturday made it seven points from three games and moved them three points clear of the Buddies with a superior goal difference. Fifth place will be enough to earn a European spot if Celtic win the Scottish Cup, but defeats for Aberdeen and Hearts were further boosts for Hibs as they chase a guaranteed spot.
Relegation battle tightens
Dundee United and Kilmarnock both failed to drag the teams above them into the basement battle as they lost to St Johnstone and Motherwell respectively. The Steelmen are all but safe while Saints know one more win would likely be all they need. To make matters worse for United and Killie, bottom club Ross County cut the gap with a 2-0 win over Livingston to leave just one point between the bottom three.
Kevin van Veen cements his awards credentials
The Motherwell striker again showed he should be a serious contender for Scotland’s player of the year crown by boosting his season tally to 25 – 21 in the league – after taking a magnificent couple of touches following Liam Kelly’s kick-out before finishing with aplomb to wrap up a 2-0 win over Killie. The Dutchman became the first Motherwell striker since Ian St John to score in seven consecutive top-flight games. It was one of several moments of class; a back-heel set up Blair Spittal for what should have been a goal; and another first touch and turn from a long ball was reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane at his best and left Killie defender Joe Wright to resort to a rugby tackle.
Barcelona must 'work hard' to achieve Champions League glory, says Flick
Hansi Flick tempered expectations of Barcelona's chances of silverware in his first season in charge ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Flick has led Barca to 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions, scoring 50 goals in those games while conceding just 14 times.
Some standout matches have seen Barca thrash Clasico rivals Real Madrid 4-0 while also brushing aside Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League in their last match in the competition.
While Flick understood the fans' excitement after those results, he urged his side to keep their feet on the ground with a long season still in front of them.
"We have to work hard. There are many teams who dream of the same thing, of winning (the Champions League)," Flick said.
"For the moment, we're going to focus on working hard and grinding out, so then we'll see what happens. We have to focus on our goal which is to keep improving.
"A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed.
"But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."
Flick, however, insisted he was not surprised by his side's impressive start to the campaign despite enduring a trophyless season last term.
Barca are nine points clear at the top of LaLiga and 11th in the Champions League table ahead of facing Red Star, who are without a win from their three games so far.
"Before we came here we analysed the whole team, every player. We realised that there was very good quality overall," Flick said.
"Another thing to point out is that we wanted to improve how we defend and did small changes in the way we play. The players liked it and they are happy working on it.
"The players play a big role, they are helping us a lot.
"The start was already good on the pre-season in North American and the players are very happy, although there are still many things to improve."
And Barca will be confident of keeping their fine form going against a side that has lost 81% of their matches in the Champions League (P21 W2 D2 L17).
This is the first European meeting between the two sides since October 1996 in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a 1-1 draw with Giovanni cancelling out a Zoran Jovicic's opener for the Serbians.
PSV 4-0 Girona: Dutch side get first win of Champions League
PSV Eindhoven won their first match in the Champions League this season as they thrashed Girona 4-0 at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday.
Ryan Flamingo got the scoring under way after 16 minutes as he turned Malik Tillman's long throw home, despite replays showing that it should have been disallowed as Tillman's foot was over the byline before releasing the ball.
Tillman got himself on the scoresheet 17 minutes later with a fine finish after he arribed into the box unopposed.
Things went from bad to worth for Girona after half-time, with Arnau Martinez receiving a red card 10 minutes into the second half for a second bookable offence.
From then, it was all one-way traffic and PSV might feel aggrieved not to have won by a bigger margin given their glut of second-half chances.
Ismael Saibari was next to put the ball in the back of the net, although his effort was ruled out for a foul in the build-up following a VAR review.
Johan Bakayoko did get PSV's third with seven minutes to go, before a Ladislav Krejci own goal wrapped up the rout in the 88th minute. The result leaves Girona 26th in the table on three points, while PSV are 19th with five points.
Odegaard returns to full Arsenal training ahead of Inter tie
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has returned to full training after spending two months out of action with an ankle injury.
Odegaard has missed 12 matches for the Gunners in all competitions after damaging his ankle ligaments against Austria while on international duty with Norway in September.
The 25-year-old midfielder trained with Arsenal ahead of their trip to the San Siro to face Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta's side have, however, struggled in Odegaard's absence recently, failing to win any of their last three games in the Premier League.
In the seven games that Odegaard has missed in the top-flight, Arsenal's win percentage dropped from 66.7% to 42.9% after going unbeaten in their first three games.
The Gunners have also averaged 1.6 points per game without Odegaard, compared to 2.3 points won with the Norwegian in their ranks.
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