The line ups for the Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup and the Scottish Gas Women's Scottish Cup were confirmed on Monday evening, with legendary Scotland goalkeeper Jim Leighton conducting the draws.
In the men's competition, Leighton's former club Aberdeen were paired with holders Celtic, while Hearts - who defeated Greenock Morton 1-0 at Cappielow prior to the draw - were drawn against League Cup victors Rangers.
In the women's edition, Celtic and Rangers were drawn together in a repeat of last year's final - which attracted a crowd of over 10,000.
Hearts and Spartans were paired together in an all-Edinburgh clash in the other Semi-Final.
With the men's competition in its 150th anniversary season, the draw was conducted by true Scottish Cup royalty in Leighton, with the keeper lifting the famous trophy on four occasions with Aberdeen in the 1980s.
The season is the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Scottish Cup, which saw the Dons win the competition for the third consecutive year and they would go on to win it again two years later in 1986.
Speaking after the draw, Leighton said: “That’s probably the four teams that most people would have predicted would have got through but they’re good ties. Aberdeen have nothing to lose against Celtic so hopefully they will have a right go.
“It’s the biggest cup in the country. Rangers and Celtic are going to dominate the league so the best chances are in the cup. If you’re Aberdeen or Hearts, if you come and sit back you’re going to get beat, so why not have a go?
"In the women's competition, Celtic against Rangers will be an exciting match and an all-Edinburgh tie with Spartans and Hearts as well."
Leighton won his first Scottish Cup in 1982 and he points to that one as being his most cherished, with it being his first career honour.
He said: “I’ll never forget my first Scottish Cup win, winning 4-1 against Rangers after extra-time. I’d watched the cup finals as a kid so it was a dream come true to go and play in one, and it was even better to go up behind Willie Miller to lift the cup and then do the lap of honour.
“It’s always special when you win something but the first time you do it is always extra special.
“It was a great time to be at Aberdeen and it’s been great seeing the cup here tonight because I’ve not seen it for far too long. It would be nice to see it back in Aberdeen this year.
“All four finals I won went to extra-time so we didn’t do it the easy way. A lot of the credit for those was has to go to Archie Knox because he got us extremely fit."
Leighton won 91 caps during a stellar Scotland career which saw him represent his country at three major tournaments. He was full of praise for the job Steve Clarke has done as Scotland boss, as he reflected on his own experiences of playing in the opening game at a major tournament, ahead of Scotland's EURO 2024 opener against Germany.
He added: “Scotland have done really well under Steve Clarke. They’ve been scoring goals and they’ve not been conceding many which is a great combination. He has done a great job from where we were to where we are now and long may it continue.
"The first game has got a big influence on it. Again, I think you’ve got to go and have a go. There’s so point losing meekly. Unfortunately in the major tournaments I played in, we weren’t able to get through the group stages in any of them and we had some exceptionally talented players.
“I was always wanting to be the first goalkeeper to get through the groups at a major tournament but sadly it didn’t happen. Hopefully Angus Gunn, or whoever is in goals this summer, can have that accolade.
“The best experience in my life was playing against Brazil in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup in France so it will be fantastic for our players this summer. People always ask me what my favourite game was and that’s the one that will live with me forever."
Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup Semi-Final Draw
Aberdeen v Celtic
Rangers v Heart of Midlothian
Scottish Gas Women's Scottish Cup Semi-Final Draw
Rangers v Celtic
Spartans v Hearts