Will Kazakhstan’s Kairat pose problem for Celtic?

First leg of the Champions League play-off: Kairat vs. Celtic

When: Wednesday, August 20th, Kick-off: 20:00 BST

Players from FC Kairat experienced ringing in their ears as they began their lengthy journey to Glasgow.

They threw away a 2-0 lead against Yelimay to lose 3-2, cementing their position at the top of the Kazakhstan Premier League a few days after passing past Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia to start a Champions League play-off against Celtic.

With only two months left in the Kazakh season, the team suffered its first home defeat in eight games, and head coach Rafael Urakhtin’s words brought that ring to life.

He claimed that it was a disappointing defeat for us. A team fighting for the title does not have the right to make these errors, I believe. Our errors were childish.

We travel to Scotland for the following game because we have no time to grieve.

The Kairat squad had plenty to think about as they traveled west from Almaty, which is only minutes from the Chinese border, for a 3,500-mile journey.

The reigning champions of a nation Celtic have come to know well over the past ten or so have already had a fairly difficult adventure on the pitch.

In the second qualifying round, Kairat defeated Finnish side KuPS by going over Slovenian side Olimpija before going two goals down at the halfway point.

Despite being the largest landlocked nation in the world located in mid-Asia, Uefa granted a request from the Kazakh FA in 2002 to participate in European competition.

With memorable encounters against Shakhter Karagandy and Astana, Celtic have already traveled three times before, including twice at this point in Champions League qualifying.

After excluding Aberdeen from the Europa League ten years ago, Kairat have Scottish experience.

In light of a fading coefficient, Brendan Rodgers’ men will be the clear favorites, but returning to the qualifying tournament in their bid to return to Europe’s top table is not ideal for Scotland’s champions.

However, Kairat has been given the impression that he might not be a pushover. The 17-year-old poses the greatest threat to Celtic’s ambitions.

Dastan Satpaev has a lucrative move to Chelsea in mind, but he is too young, per Fifa regulations, to make the move this year.

He turned 17 in Bratislava on August 1st, and he will travel to west London when he turns 18 in August.

Satpaev has scored 13 goals for Kairat this season, including three in the qualifiers, for the club. He has 22 goals this season. He already has a full international career and has a much-needed 5 foot, 5 inch future.

Valeriy Gromyko, a Belarus international, is another significant player who will likely play for Scotland in Hungary’s upcoming World Cup qualifier.

Aside from the lengthy journey they will take to make their return next week, Celtic will not be intimidated by this fixture. Callum McGregor and James Forrest were in Kazakhstan last year, but they did so for a Scotland team that was facing a 3-0 humiliation in 2019.

Kazakh football was impacted enormously by Astana’s participation in the Champions League’s group stage, with many believing that Uefa’s decision to grant them access.