Nir Bitton has opened up on time he didn't want to leave his house following his red card against Rangers.
The former Celtic midfielder was sent off in a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox in January 2021 after pulling down Alfredo Morelos.
Rangers opened up a huge 19 point gap at the top of the Premiership table that day with the midfielder describing what was to follow as the 'hardest time' in his life and a 'hatred' he has never came across in football ever.
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Bitton stopped logging into his social media accounts due to thousands of messages and admits he would find himself lying in bed in tears.
The Israel international - who will depart Celtic this summer - even refused to leave his house when his wife wanted to go shopping
Speaking to Israeli outlet 1Sport, he said: "Rangers and Celtic is something I can not even explain in words.
"It's a hatred I've never encountered in terms of football and sports.
"In Old Firm week, if you win you can go naked in the city, if you lose you better stay home, cover yourself with all the blankets you can and disconnect from social media.
"Last year when I got the red in the Old Firm, it was the hardest time of my life.
"I have never faced such a difficulty in my life. There were thousands of posts, I stopped counting, I stopped logging on to Instagram.
"I would find myself lying in bed crying. I said 'How did I get here? What did I do when I got here?'
"It was not an easy time, when my wife wanted us to go shopping I would tell her' sorry, I'm not leaving the house."
