Kairat must handle psychological pressure says former Shakhtar Karagandy boss

Celtic take on Kairat in the opening leg of the Champions League play-offs, with progression to the league phase carrying a potential £40 million windfall for the winner of the tie.

Neil Lennon’s side suffered what looked like a disastrous 2-0 defeat in the Champions League playoff first leg to Karagandy in Astana back in 2014.

However, a week later Celtic overturned the tie in Glasgow’s east end, beating the then Kazakh champions 3-0 as James Forrest struck a dramatic stoppage-time winner, with the decorated Hoops hero once again stepping up as the match-winner.

At the time, Karagandy were under the guidance of Viktor Kumykov, who is currently continuing his managerial career in Kazakhstan with FC Kaisar. Now, he has warned Kairat’s players about what awaits them at Celtic Park tonight.

Speaking via The National, Kumykov said: “It will be much harder against Celtic than against Slovan Bratislava, who they played in the last round, especially away. They have a chance because the second leg is at home, but it depends on how they cope in Glasgow.

“We beat Celtic easily at home, but in Glasgow, we didn’t have enough strength. It was a 16-hour journey, including connections to get there and we conceded in both halves in injury time. It is important for the Kairat footballers to withstand the psychological pressure.

“We prepared in Karaganda by listening to recordings of the sound of the Celtic stands, turning up the speakers at full volume. In 2013, Celtic were very strong – they beat Barcelona. They are worse now and I think Kairat have a better chance than we did back then – they are experienced in European football these days.”

Should the Celtic team that beat Karagandy back in 2013 be regarded as better than the current Celtic team as Viktor Kumykov suggests? I’d doubt that but it would make for an interesting debate. What do you think?

Conor Spence

CELTIC IN THE EIGHTIES BY DAVID POTTER, FOREWORD BY DANNY McGRAIN is published by Celtic Star Books on the fifth day of September. You can pre-order now to guarantee your copy which will be signed by Danny McGrain, while stocks last. We have LESS THAN FIFTY signed copies remaining of the ones Danny will sign next week.

And there’s another great benefit for readers who pre-order their copy of Celtic in the Eighties. You will also receive a copy of an earlier David Potter book – Celtic’ Icicle – Alec McNair – which you’ll receive for FREE when you pre-order with Celtic in the Eighties. So you get two great Celtic books by David Potter and better still the postage is only charged on one. Click on the image below to order. (Just order Celtic in the Eighties and we’ll automatically add a copy of the Alec McNair book to your order). This offer is only available for pre-ordered copies sold via Celtic Star Books.