Celtic face their biggest game of the season so far this week when they take on Kairat Almaty.
The Hoops have to face a Champions League play-off to secure their place in the main phase of the competition and have been handed an interesting draw to say the least.
Apart from being the lowest-ranked side left in the competition, Kairat also have the interesting prospect of being the longest away day.
Adam Rooney thinks the Hoops would’ve preferred to have played Slovan Bratislava so a big hat tip to any Celtic fans making the journey to Almaty.
Little is known about the opponents so, with that, 67 Hail Hail has five facts you should know about Kairat Almaty.
Almaty is closer to Japan than Glasgow
A lot has been made about this away day, but it really is quite crazy just how far away Almaty is.
To put it into context, Celtic Park is closer to the capitals of Afghanistan, Iraq and Uzbekistan than it is to Almaty.
Meanwhile, Celtic’s visitors are based over 700 miles away further east than the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.
Kairat Almaty became the first champions of independent Kazakhstan
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the Kazakhstan Premier League was formed and its inaugural champions were none other than FC Kairat.
During the Soviet Union days, the club were one of the leading teams and were the only side from Kazakhstan to compete in the top division of the Soviet Top League for 24 seasons.
Their dominance paid off as they were then crowned champions in 1992.
Andrey Arshavin ended his career at Kairat Almaty
There aren’t many big-name players who have graced Kazakhstan’s shores when it comes to football but one of the biggest is Andrey Arshavin.
The former Arsenal winger finished his career with the club, signing in March 2016 on a one-year contract, with the option to extend by another year.
He ended up staying until November 2018, winning the Kazakhstan Cup and Kazakhstan Super Cup in 2017.
Kairat Almaty’s best player is 17 years old
The danger man to look out for across both of Celtic’s Champions League games is none other than 17-year-old Dastan Satpaev.
Even at such a young age the forward has already been compared to Sergio Aguero and is expected to be the poster boy for football in Kazakhstan.
This season, Satpaev became the youngest goalscorer in Champions League history at 16 years, 10 months, and 26 days after his strike against Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana.
Satpaev won’t be at Kairat for much longer though after agreeing to join Premier League giants Chelsea, when he turns 18.
His move is believed to be around the £2m mark, which is a record fee received by a Kazakhstani club.
Kairat Almaty play on a grass pitch
Now this will be good news to all who fear the artificial pitches that belong to Kilmarnock and Livingston.
Celtic’s last trip to Kazakhstan saw them play Astana, who have an artificial pitch.
That isn’t the case at the Central Stadium, who have the original stuff for Brendan Rodgers’ side to play their game and qualify for the main phase.
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