THE debate over which is the biggest club match in world football is a perennial one which shows little sign of ever abating.

AC Milan v Internazionale, Barcelona v Real Madrid, Boca Juniors v River Plate, Celtic v Rangers, Galatasaray v Fenerbahce, Lazio v Roma; they all have their champions among followers of the beautiful game across the globe and it is doubtful a consensus will ever be reached on which is the greatest.

Yet, it is certainly worth listening to the informed views of Henrik Larsson, the legendary Celtic striker who enjoyed a memorable stint at Barcelona towards the end of his stellar career, on this subject.

He played for Feyenoord against their main adversaries Ajax early in his playing days in the Netherlands, starred in many Old Firm fixtures in his seven unforgettable seasons in Scotland, sampled El Clasico after he moved on to Spain and even took part in a Manchester United game against Liverpool during a brief loan spell in England.

The “King of Kings” has no doubts whatsoever about which game is the most intense encounter and generates the most febrile atmosphere – the Glasgow derby match which will be played out once again at Hampden in front of a crowd of 50,000 this Sunday.

The quality of football on display when Ronny Deila’s side meets Mark Warburton’s team in the semi-final of the William Hill Scottish Cup may well pale in comparison with that served up in other showpiece games across Europe.

However, for Larsson, now back in his native Sweden and managing his home town club Helsingborgs IF, there is no argument about what is the greatest occasion. Not even the Barcelona ties against Real Madrid came close to matching the Celtic meetings with Rangers for him.

“I think they were the most exciting games to play,” he said. “I never experienced something, either before or after, that compared to my Old Firm games in Scotland because that was the best atmosphere and the most fierce encounters that I ever played in. It’s a game where you need to be able to handle your emotions.”

Larsson certainly proved himself to be the epitome of the ice-cool Scandinavian when he was at Celtic. His record in the Old Firm game was especially impressive. He scored on no fewer than 15 occasions against Rangers and finished on the winning side far more often than he was on the losing one.

The 106-times capped Swedish internationalist’s sublime chip over Stefan Klos in the 6-2 victory over Rangers in the opening Glasgow derby match of the 2000/01 season is still remembered fondly by every Celtic fan who witnessed it.

The 44-year-old, though, stressed that every one of his strikes against Rangers and every victory he savoured over the Ibrox club was precious to him.

“I know I scored a lot of goals there and I think that the 6-2 game or the 5-1 game (during the 1998/99 season when Jo Venglos was manager) or the ones at Hampden were also great,” he said. “Any win when you play against your biggest rivals are obviously the best wins.”

The Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday will see only the second Old Firm game in four years played out as Rangers have spent the last four years in the lower leagues working their way to the top flight.

Celtic ran out comfortable 2-0 winners in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden last season thanks to goals Leigh Griffiths and Kris Commons. But since then a change of regime, manager and playing personnel has ensured that Rangers have fared far better.

They have sewed up the Championship and will be in the Premiership next term. Warburton’s charges are confident they can claim the scalp of top flight opponents for a third time this season following wins over both Kilmarnock and Dundee in earlier rounds of the competition.

Larsson, who will be a fascinated observer this weekend, welcomes the revival of Rangers as a force in Scottish football. Celtic have seen their attendances plummet in recent seasons due to the absence of their traditional foes from the top division and their revenues fall. Their revered former player believes having a serious challenge to their dominance will be healthy for them both on and off the park and welcomes the prospect of them renewing hostilities four times a season in the league.

“I think it’s good for the Scottish game,” he told Sky Sports. “I think it’s good for Celtic and for the competition even though it seems like they have a fair amount of competition as it is at the moment. But I think it’s only good because it’s going to mean that the competition is going to be more fierce again and that’s vital for the Scottish game.”