Celtic face Kairat Almaty in the biggest game of the season so far.
The Champions League play-off, if successfully negotiated, will give Celtic the chance to gain access to a minimum of £40m.
UEFA’s elite competition is where all the top clubs want to be and Celtic are no different.
However, standing between Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and the lucrative league phase is Kazakhstan champions Kairat Almaty.
And after Kairat lost their last league game at the weekend, midfielder Valery Gromyko has given an insight into how the Kazakh champions are feeling ahead of the Celtic Park clash.
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Kairat Almaty have not ‘lost focus’ ahead of Celtic Champions League tie
The Kairat manager severely criticised his team for their league defeat at the weekend, but Gromyko admits that his teammates still remain fully focused.
Gromyko said in The Herald, “I have no concerns that the defeat will impact our mood for playing against Celtic.
“We approach every game with the same attitude.
“Although the Celtic game is very important, we also want to become champions of Kazakhstan, so it wasn’t as if we lost focus or anything.
“We made defensive mistakes, which cost us goals. We were poor in our concentration levels on the pitch and need to improve on that.
“We have a tough schedule with two games a week and long journeys, but I don’t believe that had anything to do with the defeat.
“The football gods see everything and punished us.”
Kairat manager blasts ‘childish’ defending ahead of Celtic clash
Yelimay Semey dealt Kairat a defeat just days before they travelled to Celtic Park for the Champions League clash.
And the quality of defending didn’t leave Almaty boss Rafael Urakhtin best pleased.
Urakhtin blasted, “It was a disappointing defeat for us. We were a long way from our best defensively and we conceded childish goals.
“If you are fighting for the league title, you cannot concede goals like this.
“We knew they would be difficult to break down, but we managed to do it….and then we conceded stupid goals.
“When my players perform well, I praise them, but when we make such basic mistakes like we did, then I have to point it out.”
Let’s hope Celtic see more of that kind of defending and Rodgers can take a huge lead over to Kazakhstan to all but secure their place in the league phase this season.
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