The rest of August is now fully planned out for Celtic.
Brendan Rodgers is now aware of what he is up against, and it’s going to be a gruelling end to the month, with League Cup, Premiership and Champions League qualifiers to deal with.
It’s not helpful that Celtic need to go through a qualifying phase to play in Europe’s elite competition; being the champions of Scotland clearly means very little to those at UEFA, with England having five teams qualifying straight to the main draw.
Either way, Celtic will face Kairat Almaty over two legs, after the Kazakhstan side beat ŠK Slovan Bratislava on penalties to progress to the final set of hurdles – and it’s not exactly an ideal trip for the Hoops.
Date and kick-off time of Celtic’s first and second leg clash against Kairat Almaty
Celtic face Falkirk on Friday night in the League Cup, and you suspect that Rodgers will ring the changes because of what’s coming up.
That’s because Celtic face Kairat Almaty at Parkhead on Wednesday, August 20, with kick-off at 20:00 (UK time), which will be midnight in Kazakhstan.
On UEFA’s website, it has also shared that the second leg will take place on Tuesday, August 26, with kick-off at 17:45 (UK time) – that’s 21:45 in Kazakhstan.
How long is a flight to Kazakhstan from Scotland? And everything else you need to know about Celtic’s trip to Almaty
It’s going to be a long trip, that’s for sure, and it also comes days before Celtic’s trip to Ibrox to take on Rangers for the first Glasgow derby of the season.
That shouldn’t be an excuse because that’s what it takes to play at the elite level, and also, Rangers themselves will be playing Club Brugge.
According to Kayak, the busiest airport in Kazakhstan is Almaty, and an average flight from Scotland to Kazakhstan takes 22 hours and 43 minutes.
The distance covered is a whopping 3,268 miles, so Celtic have to get the job done in the first leg, or that return fixture is going to be even more difficult.
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