Will Kazakhstan's Kairat pose problem for Celtic?
FC Kairat players began their long journey to Glasgow with a ringing sensation in their ears.A few days after scraping past Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava to set up a Champions League play-off against Celtic, they tossed away a 2-0 lead against Yelimay, losing 3-2 and with it their place at the top of the Kazakhstan Premier League.It was their first home defeat in eight games and that ringing was brought on by the words of head coach Rafael Urakhtin, who was furious at such a capitulation with just two months left of the Kazakh season."It was a disappointing defeat for us," he lamented. "I believe that a team fighting for the championship has no right to make such mistakes. We made childish mistakes. "We have no time to grieve, we fly to Scotland for the next match."Plenty to ponder, then, for the Kairat squad as they made their 3,500-mile trip west from Almaty, which lies mere hours from the Chinese border.It has already been a fairly arduous adventure on the pitch for the reigning champions of a country that Celtic have got to know well over the last decade or so.Kairat overcame Slovenians Olimpija before coming from two goals down at the midway point of the tie in the second qualifying round against Finnish side KuPS.Then came the drama in Bratislava, as they emerged via a shoot-out amidst a raucous atmosphere in the Slovakian capital after going behind in the first half.
Teenager Satpaev is main threat
In 2002, Uefa granted a request from the Kazakh FA to take part in European competition despite the largest landlocked country in the world sitting in mid-Asia.Celtic have visited three times previously, including twice at this stage of Champions League qualifying, with memorable match-ups against Shakhter Karagandy and Astana.Kairat have had Scottish experience themselves, having knocked Aberdeen out of the Europa League a decade ago.Returning to the qualifying tournament in their bid to get back to Europe's top table is not ideal for Scotland's champions against the backdrop of a fading coefficient, but Brendan Rodgers' men will be big favourites.However, the warnings are there that Kairat may be no pushovers. The biggest danger to Celtic's ambitions comes in the shape of a 17-year-old.Dastan Satpaev has a big-money transfer to Chelsea to look forward to but is too young to make that move this year as per Fifa rules.He celebrated his 17th in Bratislava and will head to west London as soon as he turns 18 next August.Satpaev has 22 goal involvements for Kairat this season, scoring 13 of them himself, including three in the qualifiers. And despite his 5ft 5in frame, has a massive future on his hands whilst already a full international.Belarus international Valeriy Gromyko is another important player and is likely to be involved against Scotland in the upcoming World Cup qualifier in Hungary.This is not a fixture Celtic will be intimidated by, apart from the length of journey they will undertake for next week's return. Although the last time Callum McGregor and James Forrest were in Kazakhstan, it was for a Scotland team on the receiving end of a 3-0 humbling in 2019.Symbolically, the sight of Astana playing in the group stage of the Champions League in 2015 was massive for Kazakh football, with many feeling it justified Uefa's decision to grant them access.But, it remains the only time a club from the country has participated in the tournament. Kairat are desperate to become the second.
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