How Kairat Almaty fared in the Champions League after embarrassing Celtic, as league phase concludes

Add as preferred source on Google

Celtic’s defeat to Kairat Almaty in August has had a ripple effect on the whole season.

Yes, there were already issues at Celtic, and the supporters were frustrated and angry at those running the ship in the Parkhead boardroom.

But you sense that Celtic’s defeat to Kairat Almaty in their Champions League qualifiers, and those two drab, lifeless and embarrassing goalless draws, just tipped everything over the edge.

So much so that Celtic have had three different managers in the dugout since, and Kairat have enjoyed their debut campaign in Europe’s elite competition, as the league phase concluded on Wednesday.

• READ MORE: Watch former Celtic target Kasper Dolberg score Champions League goal after deadline-day snub

Kairat Almaty finish bottom of Champions League group after knocking out Celtic

To nobody’s surprise, Kairat Almaty finished bottom of the 36-man Champions League group, earning just one point.

Even when Celtic faced the Kazakhstan side, everyone knew they were facing minnows, who were punching well above their weight by just featuring in the qualifiers.

So, for Kairat to feature and play against some of Europe’s best was just a bonus, as they concluded their Champions League run by scoring two against Arsenal in a 3-2 loss.

A breakdown of Kairat’s numbers and results

The most frustrating part of Celtic losing to Kairat on penalties was the fact that they couldn’t even score a goal against the lowest-ranked Champions League team.

In truth, it has probably summed up Celtic’s season because they have still struggled to score goals, as Brendan Rodgers, Wilfried Nancy and Martin O’Neill have found out.

But this is a breakdown of some of Kairat’s numbers.

• Matches played: 8
• Won: 0
• Draw: 1
• Lost: 7
• Goals scored: 7
• Goals conceded: 22
• Average possession: 43.25%

• Results: Lost 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon, beaten 5-0 at home to Real Madrid, goalless draw with PAFOS, lost 2-1 at Inter, defeated 3-2 against Copenhagen, lost 1-0 at home to Olympiacos, 4-1 loss to Club Brugge, and beaten 3-2 at Arsenal.