Oh, and the goal difference? Celtic are a mere 40 in front of their rivals this time.The bad news for Rangers is that O'Neill wants to make Celtic even better, enabling them to become a power on the European stage once more. Going out of the Uefa Cup quarter-finals to Villarreal may have destroyed the dream of a second successive final appearance, but such is the domestic strength of Celtic these days that the only mathematics involved is keeping pace with O'Neill's team.Victory today will give the Northern Irishman his third championship in four seasons since going to Parkhead. Last May, Celtic travelled to Rugby Park numbed by the pain of losing the Uefa Cup final to Porto in Seville just four nights earlier.In a remarkable act of courage, they ignored the 80-degree heat to regroup and defeat Kilmarnock 4-0 on the final day of the season - but lost the championship to Rangers on the wafer-thin goal difference of one.More pain in Spain last Wednesday ought to find a very different source of healing. This afternoon, he will be at Rugby Park knowing that victory will be enough to secure the Scottish Premier League title just days after the Uefa Cup had slipped through his grasp.If that sounds familiar, it should.

Martin O'Neill spent a long summer last year, brooding about the events of one remarkable, sweltering day. This time, he will spend it trying to buy Celtic a place in the European sun. The Celtic manager could be forgiven for believing his life had turned into Groundhog Day. The team that gives everything will win." And should that team be Deportivo, their creditors will be happy.. Pointing out that Depor-tivo "are capable of the worst, as well as the best", the manager added, "Porto don't lose many games and last season won the Uefa Cup."Whether another miracle would be on the cards should Deportivo ship some goals on Wednesday is debatable, but their Uruguayan striker Walter Pandiani is convinced his side possess the belief, as well as the work rate, to get to the final "Football has changed a great deal," he said "It is no use having better players or being favourites. This may be down to cunning in the Porto camp, since Irureta has paid tribute to his team's enthusiastic following as "the equivalent of a 12th man."Having lost 2-0 to Porto already this season, Irureta is cautious about overcoming the Portuguese League leaders. We are Spanish but quite different, people who are more reluctant to show our emotions, like northern Europeans."That said, feelings are running high in La Coru?t what is regarded as a miserly allocation of only 2,600 tickets for the 20,000 who were hoping to make the 150-mile journey across the Portuguese border for Wednesday's first leg in Oporto.

"This is unusual, because we are not as hot-blooded around here as the people of places like Andalucia. The city of 250,000 people is awash with the blue-and- white colours of their team. "Since the victory over Milan people in bars, offices and the streets are talking about nothing else," said Jose Hermida of the Spanish daily El Pais. Having said that he would travel the 40 kilometres between La Coru?nd the pilgrim city of Santiago de Compostela on his knees if Deportivo beat Milan, he confirmed the intention to do so at the end of the season, albeit on foot rather than knees, something he has undertaken before, when his side won La Liga four years ago.It is the fans of Deportivo who are kneeling at the moment, in a combination of jubilation and disbelief. He wears the same coat, rain or shine, to watch matches, never sits down until his team score, and chews the same piece of gum from kick-off until post-match interview time. A disciplin-arian whose tinkerman tendencies have led to training- ground bust-ups at a club where there are more talented players than places in the team, Irureta is the man whose arrival six years ago changed Deportivo's fortunes.His prospects of contract renewal, after some shaky times such as that 8-3 walloping in Monaco, have blossomed following the crushing of Milan Irureta's popularity has much to do with his quotability.