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By JOHN MCGARRY Published: 07: 36 AEST, 21 August 2025 | Updated: 07: 44 AEST, 21 August 2025 View comments As if the prospect of an arduous trip to one of the game’s outposts wasn’t daunting enough, Celtic now head to Almaty with their Champions League ambitions resting in an extremely dangerous place. This affair just didn’t unfold as Brendan Rodgers predicted it would. A stark lack of investment in his side thus far this summer manifested itself in a display which offered significant grounds for concern. For those perplexed as to why tumbleweed has blown through such a cash-rich club over the last couple of months, this was a night when the chickens came home to roost. Celtic aren’t yet out of it, but it’s evidently going to take a monumental effort on the road next Tuesday if they are to contemplate the riches and the glamour of the main tournament for the fourth successive year. It should never have come to this. The Parkhead men didn’t have enough big moments and didn’t do nearly enough to find their way through a well-drilled Kairat defence. The men from Kazakhstan were decent on the ball, physical and streetwise. Yet they weren’t on a patch on the likes of RB Leipzig who Celtic so memorably put to the sword here last season. Brendan Rodgers voices his frustration as his Celtic side fail to find a breakthrough Celtic suffered a blow when full-back Alistair Johnston went off injured in the first half Johnston had to be stretchered from the field with what looked like a hamstring injury Without Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn, though, Rodgers’ side aren’t nearly as strong as they were back then. You reap what you sow in this game. And for reasons only the club’s hierarchy could explain, they arrived in this £40million shoot-out flying by the seat of their pants. By the end of the night, those in the heated seats were feeling the wrath of the rank and file. The chants of ‘Sack the Board’ echoed around the ground. If Celtic don’t pull this one out of the fire next week, the recriminations will be heard all winter. This was no way for Rodgers to mark his 800th game as a manager. His side were disjointed, predictable, error-strewn and lacking in guile. The only crumb of comfort will be that the men from Kazakhstan didn’t take one of the several half chances they fashioned. Too many players in green and white were way short of their best. To few gave the impression that they are capable of delivering better next Tuesday. The loss of Alistair Johnston to a serious looking injury in the first half didn’t help matters, but the display was flat and witless long before the Canadian was carried off. The fact is that in four competitive games to date, a centre-forward has yet to score a goal for Rodgers’ outfit. That does not bode well for the return. Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel watches Edmilson's attempt on goal go over the bar While Celtic were right to be cautiously optimistic about their chances of progressing, their opponents were worthy of every respect. Having started in the first qualifying round, Kairat wearily arrived in Glasgow have taken care of Olimpija Ljubljana, Ku PS then Slovan Bratislava. Their 3-2 loss to Yelimay in their domestic league at the weekend was their first home reverse in eight matches, cost them their place at the top of the table and drew the ire of manager Rafael Urakhtin. In teenage forward, Dastan Satpaev, they also boasted one of Europe’s emerging talents. Already a full international at the age of 17, Satpaev has agreed to move to Chelsea when he turns 18 in a year’s time. It said much about the lack of transfer activity that Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren were the only fresh faces on Rodgers’ starting side. As vital as the match was, the pre-match atmosphere was just a couple of degrees below the cauldron that this place turns into when the continent’s heavyweights are in town. Anyone expecting a 90-minute onslaught in the manner of the thrashing of Astana eight years ago was to be quickly disappointed. Daizen Maeda had a great chance to win it for Celtic but struck his shot tamely at the keeper Kairat were organised, diligent and had a string of technically impressive players. They were not here to simply batten down the hatches. Skipper Alexandr Martynovich had the ball in the net from a corner as the game settled only to be flagged offside. Without possession, their yellow and black shirts fell back into a low block. With Celtic were slow and predictable in their build-up, the visitors looked comfortable. Too many passes were overcooked or hurried. With little sign of a spark, the frustrations of supporters grew. Tierney and Daizen Maeda ought to have the makings of a good partnership, but the chemistry isn’t quite there yet. One sharp exchange did allow the Scot to pick out James Forrest in a threatening position. In keeping with Celtic to that point, the winger’s heavy touch robbed him of the chance to shoot. Celtic’s cause wasn’t helped by the premature departure of Johnston. The Canadian went down in a crumpled heap 10 minutes from the half-time whistle and required a stretcher to take him up the tunnel. It did not look good. Anthony Ralston was sprung from the bench. The break in play allowed Rodgers to pass on his thoughts on what he’d seen so far. It’s far to say he didn’t appear overly impressed with Adam Idah’s attempts to bring others into play. The striker didn’t reappear for the second half with Yang Hyun-jun thrown on and Maeda moved centrally.   The Irishman wasn’t the only issue. All over the park, it was ponderous and predictable. Celtic overplayed when they didn’t need to and didn’t do things quickly enough when the gaps opened up. Ofri Arad might well have given Kairat a half-time lead. To Kasper Schmeichel’s considerable relief, the Israeli midfielder flashed the ball just the wrong side of the target from the edge of the box. Celtic fashioned more chances in the opening two minutes of the second period than they’d done in the previous 45. Yang immediately got on his heels and fed Forrest. Alexandr Zarutskiy sharped the shot low at his post. Reo Hatate’s improvised volley from Ralston’s ball then had the keeper scrambling. The crowd responded to the lift in tempo. Cameron Carter-Vickers was soon to be the most relieved man in the stadium. Having taken his eye off a routine pass, he watched on in horror as Edmilson tried to chip Schmeichel from 40 yards. Fortunately for the defender, the ball landed on the roof of the net. That moment seemed to puncture Celtic’s growing momentum. The theatrics of the visitors didn’t help matters either. It ensured there were 10 minutes added on although you felt Celtic could have played until Christmas and not scored. Arne Engels’ introduction gave the team more of a threat from set pieces. The Belgian’s first corner landed right on the head of Liam Scales. The defender ought to have hit the target. It was that kind of night. Even when Kairat keeper Zarutskiy was replaced by Temirlan Anarbekov, Celtic failed to make many inroads. Long before the final whistle sounded, there was an air of resignation around the place. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, the ball broke kindly to Maeda but he snatched at it and the keeper gathered. Weak and lacking conviction, his effort was in keeping with the collective display that had gone before. Rodgers’ side have to all to do next week. Only the most optimistic will see them pulling it off.

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