The National:

CELTIC supporters versus a late Italian fascist dictator’s daughter is not the Twitter beef that 2019 asked for, but in the upside-down times in which we live, it is the beef we have been served.

The latest twist has seen Alessandra Mussolini engage in similarly poorly thought-out whataboutery found on any given weekend on Scottish football Twitter.

It all began last Thursday when Lazio were in Glasgow to take on the Scottish champions, with a section of the Rome side’s supporters marching through the city giving fascist salutes.

That was followed by the Celtic support unfurling a banner at the game directing the Italian club towards the Foreign Office.

Another banner carried the words “follow our leader”, with a depiction of former Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini being hanged, while another still said, in Italian, that Lazio supporters were “born anally”.

The Glasgow side face yet more Uefa sanctions for the banners, which was to be expected.

Far less predictable, however, is that Alessandra Mussolini would weigh into the row, slamming the banners as an “act of violence”.

The 56-year-old Forza Italia politician – a right-of-centre populist party – was subsequently the target of the Celtic support during Sunday’s victory over Aberdeen.

She too was directed to the Foreign Office.

Alessandra Mussolini hit back again – swung and missed, actually – with a tweet about how William Wallace was captured and hung as well.

Twitter user @Eunan_98 had the perfect response: “Difference is William Wallace was fighting for the freedom of Scotland and Mussolini was a murdering fascist dictator who killed anyone that didn’t agree with him.”

Also, not many of the people she is aiming the tweet at, we assume, are related to William Wallace.

We look forward to seeing where this goes next...