Kieran Tierney: We're determined to achieve our goal in Kazakhstan | OneFootball

Celtic arrived in Kazakhstan last night ahead of Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League play-off decider against FC Kairat, with the tie locked at 0-0 after last week’s goal-less draw at Celtic Park.

A victory for the Hoops in Almaty will guarantee their spot in the league phase of the competition and a seat at the top table of European football once again.

Ahead of the match, Kieran Tierney spoke to Celtic TV in Kazakhstan about the mood of the squad and their ambitions going in to Tuesday night’s decider.

“We’re feeling good,” Tierney told Celtic TV. “We know what the goal is by the end of tomorrow night.

“We let ourselves down in the first half last week. We could have played better, but I think the second half was better and we were in control of the game.

“We just need to have the confidence to go out here and score a few goals.

“We know exactly what we need to do. It’s a 90-minute game that we need to go and win.

“That’s what we need to do for all the fans at home, the fans that have travelled here and everyone involved at the club.”

Brendan Rodgers’ men have travelled 3,500 miles for tomorrow night’s match, the furthest they could have possibly gone for a fixture in Europe this season.

On top of the distance covered, the Celts are also in a time zone which is four hours ahead of Celtic Park time, albeit the travelling party are sticking to UK time to make their preparations for the match as seamless as possible.

But in Tierney’s opinion, dealing with the challenges of a fixture like this is just part-and-parcel of playing at the top level, and he has his sights on playing his part in more European progression after the Hoops’ positive UCL campaign last season.

Tierney added: “In general, as a football player, this is what you have to deal with all your career.

“You go to different places, different time zones, so there are no excuses for us. It’s a game we’re looking forward to and we need to go out and win it.

“I saw from afar last year how far the club have come in the Champions League, how well they performed.

“Every year you try and look to better yourself and go one further and again that’s the ambition tomorrow.”

Official Match Centre

Fixtures

Kairat Vs. Celtic - Tue, Aug 26th 2025, 17:45