Kairat Almaty v Celtic, Champions League Playoff – Team News, match officials and where to watch

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The Celtic Star

·26. August 2025

Kairat Almaty v Celtic, Champions League Playoff – Team News, match officials and where to watch

Financially speaking tonight is perhaps the biggest game in Celtic’s unbroken history with a prize of over £40million at risk should Celtic fail to defeat FC Kairat in the Ortalyk Stadion…

Around 300 Celtic supporters have made the trip from all corners of the world to be at the game and that level of support or the team is just astonishing really. Rightly Brendan Rodgers has used the commitment shown by these Celtic supporters to inspire his players. Reward them for their unbelievable support is the message from Brendan Rodgers, who is a Celtic supporter himself.

Brendan Rodgers during the Premier League match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

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The first goal is going to be crucial this evening as Kairat are weakened in attack and don’t score many goals at this level. They got past Slovan Bratislava with a stoppage time penalty at home then winning a penalty shoot-out in Slovakia. The thought of penalties tonight gives me the absolute fear but it’s a viable option for the home side who might be happy to sit in while the game remains goalless.

For Celtic it’s all about starting fast, getting on the front foot and taking our chances. Even with a 1-0 lead Celtic should be relatively comfortable. If Kairat gets the opener, think back to that game against McDiarmid Park earlier in the year..no actually don’t it doesn’t bear thinking about.

Celtic Team News

Alistair Johnston misses out after pulling a hamstring in the first leg of the play-off. That will keep him out for three months. Auston Trusty hasn’t travelled and could be sidelined for the next few weeks. Adam Idah made it though and is in the squad.

Benjamin Nygren celebrates scoring during Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Expect Kasper Schmeichel to have a back four of Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Kieran Tierney in front of him. In the middle of the park Callum McGregor will be joined by Reo Hatate and possibly Arne Engels. That will allow Benjamin Nygren to play on the right with James Forrest on the left and Daizen Maeda through the middle.

Substitutes this evening will include Sinisalo, Murray, Donovan, Jahmai, McCowan, Bernardo, Yang, Idah, Kenny, Shin and Osmand.

Match Officials

Referee Maurizio Mariani gestures during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and SSC Napoli at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on November 10, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Experienced Italian referee Maurizio Mariani takes charge of tonight’s Champions League playoff between Kairat Almaty and Celtic. Running the line for the game are duo Daniele Bindoni and Alberto Tegoni, while Matteo Marchetti has been appointed by UEFA as the fourth official. Marco Di Bello will handle VAR duties, with Valerio Marini supporting him in the review booth. All the match officials are Italian.

Kick-off Time

Almaty Central Stadium. Capacity 23,804. Almaty, Kazakhstan

Kairat Almaty v Celtic kicks off at 5:45pm CPT (Celtic Park Time) with the local time at kick-off being 9.45pm. Celtic have remained on our own time zone during their stay on Kazakhstan, having done so on previous visits.

Where to Watch

Kairat v Celtic is exclusively available to watch in Britain and Ireland on Amazon Prime Sport as part of their Champions League Tuesdays package that has been agreed with UEFA. Last week they featured theRangers v Brugge game at Ibrox and the coverage was thoroughly enjoyable. Hopefully Celtic supporters will be just as satisfied this evening. Pre-match build-up starts at 5.15pm and the Celtic team news should be out around 4.30pm and we’ll post that on The Celtic Star as usual.

A place in the UCL league phase on the line 👀 Watch the second leg of Kairat 🆚 Celtic, 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 on Prime in the UK & Ireland 📺
– Montag, 25. August 2025

Score Prediction

Sporting de Lisboa v Celtic FC – Pre-Season Friendly Daizen Maeda of Celtic FC is in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Sporting de Lisboa and Celtic FC at Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal, on July 16, 2025. Faro Portugal. Photo: DAX Images

Kairat 0 Celtic 1 – MAEDA!

COYBIG!

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