Kairat Almaty, the Most Asian Club in the European Champions League

ALMATY, WEDNESDAY — Kairat Almaty has proven that new history is always waiting to be written in football. Surprisingly, they defeated the Scottish giant, Celtic, through a penalty shootout in the final round of the 2025-2026 UEFA Champions League qualification, on Wednesday (27/8/2025) early morning WIB, at the Central Stadium of Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Kairat has become the second team from Kazakhstan to compete in the elite club competition in Europe and the world. They follow in the footsteps of their main rival, Astana, which has already experienced fierce competition on the continental stage in the 2015-2016 edition.

Meanwhile, the team nicknamed "Halyq Komandasy," or "The Nation's Team," finally got their first taste of Champions League football. Before defeating Celtic 3-2 on penalties after two goalless draws, Kairat eliminated Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) 3-1 in the first qualifying round and Kuopion Palloseura (Finland) 3-2 in the second round.

The 2024 Kazakhstan League champion played effectively under the support of more than 30,000 supporters. They pursued the ball more than they controlled it, as reflected in a ball possession statistic of 33 percent. Nevertheless, Kairat was able to create 12 shots compared to 11 shots by Celtic.

The performance of Kairat's goalkeeper, Temirlan Anarbekov, deserves four thumbs up. He saved the goal from a golden opportunity by Celtic's winger, Luke McCowan, in the 112th minute.

After the match concluded after 120 minutes, Anarbekov continued his brilliant performance by saving three penalty shots from Celtic's executors, namely Adam Idah, McCowan, and Daizen Maeda.

Anarbekov is essentially just a backup goalkeeper. He came on in the 75th minute of the first match against Celtic due to the injury of Kairat's main goalkeeper, Aleksandr Zarutskiy. The 21-year-old young goalkeeper was able to repay the trust of Kairat's Coach Rafael Urazbekhtin.

In the next three weeks, specifically on September 16, all Kairat players will begin their competition in the main phase of the Champions League alongside 35 other teams. They will learn about the eight opponents they will face, including four matches at the Central Stadium in Almaty, during the draw on Friday (29/8/2025) early morning WIB, in Nyon, Switzerland.

Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers has experienced the intimidating atmosphere faced by his team at Kairat's home ground. After a flight of approximately 7,500 kilometers, Rodgers stated that his team encountered other challenges that affected their performance.

"The pitch was very poor. We held up well, but we couldn't create any dangerous opportunities. Clearly, this is a very bitter disappointment," said Rodgers after the match.

Celtic midfielder and captain Callum McGregor regrets failing to qualify for the main round of the Champions League. He credited the tight defense of Kairat.

"They made it difficult for us. In both games, their defense was very well organized," McGregor said, as reported on the UEFA website.

The presence of Kairat, the owner of four Kazakhstan league titles, will cause four European teams to experience their longest away matches in the Champions League. This is because, outside of football, particularly in the socio-political sphere, Kazakhstan is considered part of Asia, specifically Central Asia.

Kazakhstan generally shares its borders with Russia to the north and west, while at another corner, the country shares land borders with China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest.

Similarly, Almaty has a more pronounced Asian atmosphere compared to Europe. Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country.

Interestingly, Almaty is located more than 1,200 kilometers (km) from the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. In fact, Almaty is closer to the city of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province in China, which is approximately 841 km away. The distance from Almaty to the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, is only 240 km.

In the context of football, Almaty is actually closer to Asia than to Europe. This can be illustrated by comparing the distance of the city to the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Through aerial calculations, the distance from Almaty to Kuala Lumpur is 5,202 km. Meanwhile, representatives of the Kairat club will travel a distance of 6,783 km to attend the draw for the main phase of the Champions League in Nyon.

It is not surprising that Kairat has been recorded to compete in the Asian Cup Winners' Cup for two seasons, in the editions of 1997-1998 and 2000-2001. However, since 2002, Kazakhstan has moved to UEFA, allowing their teams to compete in European club competitions.

Therefore, one can imagine how long the flight will be for the defending champion, Paris Saint-Germain, if they draw to play away at Kairat. They would have to cover a distance of approximately 6,791 km.

By commercial plane, referring to the Skyscanner page, PSG players will spend 11 hours and 55 minutes in the air if they use the commercial class of Qatar Airways, one of their main sponsors and the Champions League sponsor.

The Champions League king, Real Madrid, will face the longest journey if they meet Kairat. The match between the two teams could occur with one team having to travel a distance of 8,059 km. The fastest commercial flight provided by Qatar Airways takes 13 hours and 55 minutes.

Although the majority of major European teams use chartered flights for their air travel in the Champions League, the long journey to Almaty certainly needs to be carefully considered. Changes in match schedules in the league, or even postponements, may be requested by clubs that are set to visit the Central Stadium in Almaty in this season's Champions League.

In addition to Kairat, two teams will also be making their debut in the Champions League. They are Bodo/Glimt from Norway and Pafos from Cyprus. (REUTERS)