Former Celtic boss Ronny Deila thinks his old team is on a ‘different level’ to Rangers. 

The Norwegian is now out in the United Arab Emirates, managing top-tier outfit Al Wahda. He got the job in July after departing Belgian giants Club Brugge in March.

Despite living in the Middle East, Deila still finds time to keep up with the Celts and watched on as they defeated their city rivals by three goals to nil last weekend.

The Scottish Premiership champions ran riot in the derby, with goals coming from Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi, and captain Callum McGregor.

It was a strong display from Brendan Rodgers’ side, who sit pretty at the top of the table. In the eyes of his Deila, last Sunday was a fine showing of Celtic’s current dominance. 

“We watched the game in a sports bar over here in Abu Dhabi,” he told MailSport. “Philippe Clement really went for it and the way Rangers played made the game much more exciting to watch. But at the same time Celtic just seem to be on a different level.

“They’re a better team. Their front players make such a big difference. Because when you go high on them, your defence has a bigger task to stop them.

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“Celtic’s attackers gave Rangers’ defenders such a hard time, especially with their runs into those corridors and the cut-backs from the bye-line.

“There is a big difference between Celtic and Rangers on that showing.”

Despite spending two years as Celtic boss, Deila only managed against Rangers twice.

He helped secure a 2-0 win over the Ibrox club in 2015 but a year later, was at the centre of a disappointing penalty-shootout defeat in the Scottish Cup at Hampden. 

The gap between Celtic and Rangers after the 48-year-old left Scotland has fluctuated but now, the Bhoys are out in front.