Champions League Playoffs 2025-2026: Celtic Glasgow-Kairat Almaty, likely lineups

Celtic Glasgow-Kairat Almaty kicks off at 9 p.m. for Celtic Glasgow-Kairat Almaty, the first leg match of the Champions League playoffs: whoever wins the double-header qualifies for the single round of the continent’s top tournament, kicking off in September. The Scots hope to close out qualification talks immediately at home in Glasgow, but they should not underestimate the Kazakhs, who were able to beat Olimpija, KuPS and Slovan Bratislava in the previous rounds.

Scotts with Maeda, Idah and Forrest as their offensive trident, in midfield are Nygren, McGregor, Hatate.

For the Kazakhs, the attacking trident consists of Satpaev, Edmilson Santos, Jorginho. On the flanks are Tapalov and Mata.

Celtic-Kairat Almaty, the likely lineups
Celtic (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Tierney; Nygren, McGregor, Hatate; Forrest, Idah, Maeda. All: Rodgers.
Kairat Almaty (4-3-3): Zarutskiy; Tapalov, Sorokin, Martynovich, Mata; Glazer, Gromyko, Ofri; Satpaev, Edmilson Santos, Jorginho. All: Urazbakhtin.

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