Slovan Bratislava arrive in Kazakhstan today ahead of their Champions League qualifier against Kairat Almaty. Almaty started their campaign four weeks ago, eliminating Slovenian champions Ollimpija 3-1 on aggregate. They then overcame a 2-0 first leg defeat to Finns KuPS to win 3-2 on aggregate.
Those wins are the first Almaty have recorded in European competition since 2021, when they beat Luxembourgers Fola Esch to reach the Conference League group stage (finished with 2 points). We can expect to face Slovan in the playoff round later this month. The second leg is away from home on Tuesday 26th August; we are at Ibrox five days later. Almaty is 200 miles from China and an 11 hour flight time, plus a refuelling stop, away from the UK. Bratislava may suit us better.
Slovan were the fairytale side last season, starting in the Champions League first qualification round and reaching the league stage, having never previously qualified for the group stage. Fairytales do not always have happy endings and Slovan only managed to avoid bottom place on goal difference, having a balance one better than Young Boys. Their 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park will set expectations in Bratislava, even if you and I know this will be a different challenge.
Slovan’s material advantage is that they will have played eight competitive games before facing Celtic. By contrast, we will have played only three (St Mirren, Aberdeen, Falkirk). The difference in fitness eight games into a season from three is substantial.
Compared to what it could have been, this is a gift of a draw, there can be no excuses, but we need to get everything right to progress. We also have the ghost of Bratislava to exorcise.
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The Blogger Known,as GM
Since when did Celtic’s superior financial muscle translate into a superior squad?
Cluj, Ferencvaros, Artmedia, Maribor, AEK, Midytlland… etc, etc.
But yeah, the current manager is the problem here. Dearie me.
A skoosh for the huns . You would think that these qualifiers would get progressively more difficult as you go through the rounds , but Panathanaikos were miles better than this lot , and they were pish .
the long wait is over on 5th August 2025 8:47 pm
PRESTONPANS BHOYS on 5TH AUGUST 2025 7:32 PM
Yes you would have to be a bit thick to suggest exhausting anywhere near all of your cash reserves. My point was 63% looks disproportionately high, could look at comparable clubs but that’s too much effort.
Anyhows that hun tie is over so aff to watch something else 🙄
We had pace in kuhn and kyogo but the board sold them, you can’t have what you sell
Huns have two good wingers ….
Motherwell would be horsing this mob 3-0 as well
Huns 3 up
Tie over bar a miracle
VINNIE
We’ve got one ………. , and Yang .
(Can’t count Jota for the time being)
We keep getting excuses on here about how hard it is to sign players, the huns have brought in 2 decent wingers for about £5 million
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 5TH AUGUST 2025 8:58 PM
A skoosh for the huns . You would think that these qualifiers would get progressively more difficult as you go through the rounds , but Panathanaikos were miles better than this lot , and they were pish .
——
I agree but VP are a team who play to an average of less than 8000 fans.
Gives it some perspective I’d say.
Hope Club Brugge are as good as they were last year.
Lots of weakness in this huns team
Especially across the centre of midifeld/defence
When they come up across better teams (motherwell???), they will get outplayed and out fought
Especially, if they come up against a team that can take their chances
Every fecking year we have to endure, the rangers are coming pish
And it is pish
Every year
I dont see this year being any different
Chill bedwetters
StStivs 👍☘️
CLUNKS:
What a wanker you and some of the others on here are.
Honestly. Dickhead comment.
referee is Clément Turpin (brother of the famous Djik Turpin)
which explains the soft penalty
ah the bedwetter in chief!!
Wring out your soggy sheets and put on some dry underwear
It was the bedwetters part that chaffed your thighs??
Rodgers wouldn’t like their wingers – they tend to go past their man instead of passing inside
!!Bada Bing!! on 5th August 2025 9:05 pm
We keep getting excuses on here about how hard it is to sign players, the huns have brought in 2 decent wingers for about £5 million
————
did you think , dearie me, why didnt celtic sign these fantastic inexpensive wingers ?
i didnt.
if we did, the cry would be “cheap buys, prospects, bargain basement”.
as far as the opposition goes, they are utterly crap, that left back, slower than me. the centres, terrible.
i take no bench marking on this one.
5000 unsold seats tonight btw.
Scum actually paid money for a winger,whoever heard of such a thing,and he has scored the two goals that got them past Pans,and the opening goal tonight.His cost was £3.5 million.
His goals have guaranteed the scum,at least,
Europa League group place.We have a pot of £ 22 million,so far from this summers trading.This will be increased by the UEFA pay out,and gate money,from the qualifiers,by around £5 million.
So,the grand total of £27 million should be available to buy reinforcements to replace,Jota,Kuhn,for the qualifiers.£ 5 million would have bought at least one winger.Do any of our Board fans think this is asking too much?.
JamesF
I think Clunks, to be fair was just talking football tactics et….which is just z wee opinion st our level.
Jsmes, i read your stuff and it’s fantastic my friend.
To my shame, when I disagreed with you in the past, for some reason I took offence with what you said.
Mate….more power to your pen….you’re a really smart and really clever guy.
A great ambassadorial writer for CFC.
James….sincerely….you should come/go on at least once a day to CQN….even just a comment on P67s leader.
Sheep, Hertz & Sevco have all improved there front lines and have more supply and potentially goal scorers bedded in settled and ready.
This team the huns are dismantling tonight are 3 places ahead of us and 8 places ahead of Slovan in the UEFA rankings.
Viktoria Principle would have given them a better game,and would have had 2 up top
laxalt
He is too busy drying out his sheets,
shouting at the board
And denouncing P67 as a charlatan
who has to pass his copy thru lawell before it gets signed off to go on here
SS-5000 unsold seats tonight btw.
You should have bought one…
SS,
Talking nonsense.Both wingers they have bought,were very well regarded.Not one of our fans scoffed or moaned at the price we paid for,any of our Japanese players,ORiley,Kuhn.The point is,they brought them in,they have got them into the qualifiers.
We go with Yang and Maeda.At the moment,neither could kick doors at Halloween.Jamesy as back up.
We will see if their wingers last the season
Or atleast 6 months…..
History suggests otherwise
!!Bada Bing!! on 5th August 2025 9:28 pm
SS-5000 unsold seats tonight btw.
You should have bought one…
——————
what does that even mean.
point stands, question remains did you want celtic to buy these players the huns bought ?
what you mean you never heard of them ?
THOG@858pm both players Celtic could have signed but BR thought not good enough.
And I agree with him…..they are behind Jota n Maeda n Forrest
Turkeybhoy on 5th August 2025 9:28 pm
SS,
Talking nonsense.Both wingers they have bought,were very well regarded.
———————
who buy ?
i dont recall you typing why didnt we get them ?
Celtic have forever been slow in the transfer market for as long as i can remember. I think we should always look to improve the squad and right now it is debatable if that is the case. To early to tell. My sense is we are sleepwalking into the new season but I dont have all the facts so hard to judge. We will soon find out the truth.
they were very well regarded after the huns bought them
But not before….
As is par for the course
Every fecking year we have to endure, the rangers are coming pish
And it is pish
Every year
I dont see this year being any different
Also, something about wet bed sheets and stuff
Clunks….we’re all Celtic fans etc….I despair sometimes at the thinking of other fans re PL and the signing policy and DD and MN etc….it honestly depresses me.
Anyway…im going to ask one question….would you rather sign Tommy Johnson today or wait on a maybe from Henrik Larsson for 2 weeks?
Jota and CCV and guys like that were quite rightly waiting on Everton or Aston Villa or Brentford etc
Anyway im going to watch the Sevco Euro game tomorrow night against Pilzen tomottow and ill bet anyone that Tav is atill their most dangerous player. .
Guys debating how good sevco wingers are or are not, who gives a monkeys, they dont play for us. Truth is we could easily spend some money and buy players higher up the food chain and tbh we need to cause Jota who is easily the most technically gifted winger in scotland is not gonna be ready until 2026, meade is a better forward than winger and forrest is a veteran who cant play 90 minutes. Yang is too inconsistant and tilio nowhere near it.
It’s ove r to section board to deliver or face the consequences.
Hopefully Brendan’s recruitment guru can pull a few like Antman and Gasman or even Cameron out of his book. All 3 looked decent to me. All 3 well within our budget. No idea about what Asgard will give them but the transition speed and energy for 40 mins middle of the game was pretty good.
I would love to think we would beat similar poor opposition as easily with our more settled and much more expensive squad.
Turn that doon Turn that doon
We laughed at them before the Pana game,they might not get into Europe at all.Now they are a play off away from the CL.They needed 2 wingers to replace Cerny,and the crap like Matondo.They bought them on their shoestring budget,and its paid off big time.
We should be ashamed.