Kairat’s thumping in Lisbon further highlighting Celtic’s missed opportunity to make it through to the Champions League group stages…
Sporting Clube de Portugal v FC Kairat Almaty – UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 Trincao, forward of Sporting CP, celebrates after scoring the team s second goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between Sporting CP and Kairat Almaty at Estadio Jose de Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 18, 2025 Photo Valter Gouveia
I recently talked about Celtic supporters looking on in envy as that famous Champions League anthem rang out at grounds across the continent, and Thursday night made that even more painful as we witnessed the modest team who eliminated us, Kairat Almaty receive a thumping at the hands of Sporting Lisbon.
With all due respect to the Kazakh Champions, who fully deserved to qualify on the basis that we certainly did not, they are nevertheless, a side we should have blown away, both in Glasgow and Almaty. On Thursday they had their Brazilian striker back and their Chelsea bound wonder-kid, both missed that second leg against Celtic due to injury and suspension respectively – and still couldn’t beat them.
The play-off draw was a gift for Celtic if truth be told, and it’s still a source of immense frustration that we failed to make the group stages for a fourth consecutive campaign.
That was mainly down to the incompetence of our board for failing to strengthen our squad in the required areas and the support is never going to allow this to happen again. It’s now happened to Ronny Deila, Brendan Rodgers on both his stints as manager, Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou and still the board pat themselves on the back for their successful strategy.
However the manager himself and the Celtic players have also got to take their share of the blame, as we should have still have had more than enough to take care of Kairat, who are going to have to get used to some heavy defeats in the Champions League matches to come.
Jorginho of Kairat Almaty strikes an indirect free kick which Daizen Maeda of Celtic blocks Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug just 2025 Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock
In the end Celtic didn’t qualify because we couldn’t score one solitary goal in two matches and an extra half hour of extra-time. So Kairat more than deserved to qualify, but it was an opportunity well and truly spurned from our own point of view.
Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
Never again can this happen. Transfer business has to be done early to give the manager, whether that’s Brendan Rodgers or someone else, time to bed the new arrivals in.
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The Board will never change their incompetent strategy, so the Board has to go. Celtic needs a new lease of life at executive level very quickly before further humiliation ensues for the club in Europe, as I think may well happen in this year’s Europa League competition. No more of it, we need a new Board with a new impetus.