Some Scottish Football (Soccer)

Celtic can win the Scottish league title with six games left if it beats second-place Hearts on Wednesday.

Celtic is 17 points clear ahead of the match at Celtic Park as it seeks a fourth title in six years. However, its path to a 40th league championship has been smoothed by its rivals' problems.

With George Burley was as coach, Edinburgh club Heart of Midlothian opened up a five-point lead with eight straight wins. At the same time, Celtic had a shaky start and exited the Champions League qualifying stage as a result of a 5-0 loss at modest Artmedia Bratislava.

However, Burley quit in October citing "irreconcilable differences" with Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov and his son Roman. Celtic took top spot the next month and Burley's replacement, Graham Rix, also ran into problems with the Romanovs amid reports that they were selecting the team.

With Hearts in danger of losing out to Rangers in the race for second place and Champions League qualification, Rix was fired two weeks ago and Valdas Ivanauskas, the club's Lithuanian assistant manager, appointed coach until the end of the season.

Vladimir Romanov dismissed suggestions that he had been picking the team as "ridiculous" and blamed Rix's grueling training routines for the team's decline.

"He physically killed the team," he told Sky TV on Tuesday. "They were physically weak."

Media reports Tuesday linked former Scotland and Germany coach Berti Vogts to Hearts.

Last season's champion Rangers is three points further back in third place and the top three will have all played 32 games after Wednesday.

Celtic has won 25 of its league matches and lost two under coach Gordon Strachan. The former Scotland midfielder revamped the aging team he inherited in the offseason, his young players even coping without former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane - who rarely played since joining in December because of a hip injury.

However, Hearts are still favorites to win the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park on May 13. They'll be up against Division Two champion Gretna, which has beaten four Division One teams to reach the final, including Dundee 3-0 on Saturday.