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By KENNY STILL Published: 16: 00 AEST, 26 August 2025 | Updated: 16: 00 AEST, 26 August 2025 View comments When Celtic were leading mighty Bayern Munich 1-0 as the clock ticked past 93 minutes at the Allianz Arena back in February, with a place in the last 16 of the Champions League tantalisingly within reach, no one could have predicted that their next away trip in European competition would be so bleak and so fraught with danger. Alphonso Davies’ 94th-minute leveller which secured a 3-2 aggregate success for the Germans might have punctured a few dreams and flattened a Celtic squad who had already upset a few big names along the way in a campaign to remember, but the primary takeaway from that night in Bavaria was one of pride. For all that the late blow had ended a memorable journey with almost the last kick of the ball, it also felt like the beginning of something, the foundation stone on which further European progress could be built. Fast forward six months and the landscape — literally and figuratively — could not have changed any more dramatically. Set in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains, Almaty is as far removed from the heart of European football as the current Celtic squad is to the strength in depth it enjoyed around the turn of the year. Failure to win tonight will see the club drop into the Europa League and the inquest over their inability to build on last season’s adventure will continue in earnest. Brendan Rodgers was left with plenty to ponder after the first-leg stalemate with Kairat Almaty Alphonse Davies hit a 94th-minute equaliser to prevent the last-32 tie going to extra-time Callum Mc Gregor is left stunned as Bayern celebrate their stoppage-time goal in Munich Here, Mail Sport’s Kenny Still looks at some of the key issues facing both club and manager in southern Kazakhstan tonight. Brendan Rodgers’ selection up front tonight will be critical in more ways than one. With Adam Idah now declared fit and available to lead the line, it presents an opportunity for Celtic’s much-derided £9million man to banish talk of his transfer fee for good by banking the club a £40m league phase bonanza. The only trouble is, most fans would rather not see the big man lead the line up front. That job, in the eyes of most observers, should go to the wee man, Daizen Maeda. Of course, moving the Japanese internationalist in from his left-wing berth only throws up issues in other areas of Celtic’s stretched squad, but it speaks to both Idah’s ineffectiveness and Maeda’s moxie that most supporters believe the club’s best chance of progression lies in handing the key role to the latter. It could very well be a case of ‘damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t’ with regards to Rodgers’ decision over Idah this evening. Failure to pitch the big-money signing in for such a crucial 90 minutes — exactly the kind of game where you rely on your star men to prove their worth — would surely be akin to hammering the final nail in the coffin of the Irishman’s Celtic career. Rodgers was frustrated with Idah's performance in the first leg and subbed him at half-time Play him, however, and be rewarded with the same kind of limp, blunt, lethargic display as has been witnessed far too often from the 24-year-old, and Rodgers will get it in the neck for gambling with the club’s European jackpot by playing with a weaker hand. The big win for Celtic would be an Idah goal, progression to the league phase and a huge weight off of player and club’s shoulders. Whether that only pushes the Idah issue further down the road would be a question for another day. .. Since making a losing debut in European football when being knocked out by Red Star Belgrade in UEFA Cup qualifying in 2002, Kairat Almaty have since lost only one home qualifying match in either the Champions League or Europa League. It’s not just a daunting 7, 000-mile round trip Rodgers and his squad have to contend with, it’s an ambitious and capable side extremely comfortable in their environment and just 90 tantalising minutes away from securing their first ever venture into the elite stage of European football’s premier competition. Kairat are yet to concede a goal at home in this season's Champions League qualifiers The Kazakhs have yet to concede a goal at home in their three qualifiers already this term, having beaten Olimpija Ljubljana, Ku PS and Slovan Bratislava 2-0, 3-0 and 1-0 respectively. Even more worrying for Celtic is the fact that every time Almaty have drawn the away leg of a qualifying tie, they have won the home leg and progressed. They didn’t claim that advantage in Glasgow last week just to throw it away carelessly tonight. Kieran Tierney could be forgiven for wondering what, exactly, he’s returned to on his second coming at Parkhead. The fans’ favourite may have been snapped up on a free transfer after his mixed spell at Arsenal came to an end, but make no mistake, he is their big-name summer arrival. Whether the current environment matches up to the vision he was sold during pre-contract talks with Rodgers back in January is open to question. Undoubtedly, Celtic are a far weaker side now than they were back in those heady days when they were racking up Champions League points like they were going out of fashion. Regardless, this is the stage Tierney came back to play on, having only played 185 minutes of Champions League football in seven games for both Arsenal and Real Sociedad in the six years since he departed the east end of Glasgow. The Celtic Kieran Tierney has retuned to is weaker than the one he agreed to join in January And while the challenge facing his side tonight is daunting, Tierney has the experience, tenacity and big-game nous to help his team-mates weather the storm and find the one big 90-minute performance they need to drag them over the line. With Alistair Johnston missing on the opposite side of defence, expect a lot of the play to come up Tierney’s left flank this evening. And don’t be surprised to see the Scotland man chasing every loose ball and closing down every Kairat attack as he looks to ensure his first continental campaign back at his first love isn’t spent slumming it in the Europa League. Any thoughts that the final year of James Forrest’s Celtic contract would see him play a supporting role in a revolving cast of wingers as he winds down towards some emotional farewells at the tail end of the season have been put firmly in their place — by the club’s alarming lack of wingers, mainly. For much of the past five seasons, Forrest (right) has been a peripheral figure at Parkhead, a combination of injury and ageing limbs seeing his playing time limited as a host of other wide options have been utilised by first Ange Postecoglou and latterly Rodgers. James Forrest is once again a key man in Celtic's bid to reach the promised land  Nicolas Kuhn was the man charged with raiding the right flank for most of last season, and while his summer departure to Como wasn’t mourned too much after an alarming tail-off in form from January onwards, the expectation was that a huge chunk of the £16. 5million fee recouped for him would have been spent on replacement wide men ahead of this crucial qualifying tie. That 34-year-old Forrest has emerged as Celtic’s most trusted wide threat going into tonight’s win-or-bust encounter sums up the club’s alarming early inactivity on the transfer front.   Along with a combination of Maeda, Benjamin Nygren and Yang Hyun-jun, Forrest will be asked to go to the well for potentially one final time in the competition he has appeared in 74 times across all group stage and qualifying ties. Pop up with the winner tonight and he might be the next to get a statue on Celtic Way.

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