Nir Bitton on Celtic and Rangers 'hatred' as he opens up on social media abuse that left him in tears

Former Celtic star Nir Bitton has confessed he didn't want to leave the house after his red card against Rangers.

The midfielder brought the curtain down on almost a decade of service at Celtic Park, signing off with a Premiership title victory.

It marks a remarkable turnaround under Ange Postecoglou from Neil Lennon's final campaign in charge which saw Rangers cruise to the title.

Bitton admits if was during that campaign that the low point of his Celtic career occurred as he was sent off during the 1-0 defeat in at Ibrox in January.

That saw their Glasgow rivals cruise 19 points clear and he revealed that he has to remove himself from social media after receiving abuse.

An emotional Bitton told Israeli outlet 1Sport : "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."