After defying the odds in the first leg, Kairat Almaty will be determined to secure a historic place in the Champions League draw when they welcome Celtic to Central Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The Kazakh outfit produced a resilient performance at Celtic Park last week, frustrating Brendan Rodgers’s men in a goalless stalemate. Despite having significantly less possession and rarely threatening in attack, Rafael Urazbakhtin’s side came close to snatching a dramatic result when Alyaksandr Martynovich found the net, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

Kairat’s progression to this stage has already been a milestone moment, but belief within the camp continues to grow thanks to their impressive home record. They have won each of their last five European fixtures in Almaty across three different campaigns, including a 3-1 aggregate victory over Olimpija Ljubljana, a thrilling 3-2 comeback against KuPS and a dramatic penalty shootout success against Slovan Bratislava earlier this summer. Crucially, they have yet to concede a single goal on home soil in this qualifying run, making Central Stadium something of a fortress.

For Celtic, the failure to establish control in Glasgow has placed greater pressure on this long-haul trip to Kazakhstan. Rodgers’s men face a daunting 7,000-mile journey to Almaty, and history is not on their side, with Celtic winless in three previous visits to the country. That includes two defeats, underlining the challenge ahead in an environment that has previously troubled Scottish sides.

Complicating matters further is the timing of the fixture. With the first Old Firm derby of the season scheduled just five days later, Celtic’s manager must carefully manage his squad while contending with several injuries. Right-back Alistair Johnston has been ruled out until November after suffering a hamstring issue in the first leg, while striker Adam Idah and defender Auston Trusty are also unavailable. On a positive note, Benjamin Nygren’s brace in the 3-0 league win over Livingston at the weekend offered a timely boost to attacking confidence.

Nevertheless, Celtic arrive with pedigree and experience on their side, having successfully negotiated all three of their previous ties against Kazakh opposition. The Scottish champions remain determined to reach the group stage for a fourth consecutive season, and while this encounter may prove testing, their quality could ultimately shine through.

Kairat are almost at full strength, although first-choice goalkeeper Aleksandr Zarutskiy is doubtful and could be replaced by Temirlan Anarbekov. Elder Santana and Joao Paulo remain long-term absentees with cruciate ligament injuries. Celtic travel without Johnston, Idah and Trusty, though Rodgers is expected to lean on his core midfield trio of Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Nicolas Engels to control proceedings.

Kairat’s formidable home record and defensive resilience give them every reason to believe they can push Celtic to the limit.

在经历了首回合的艰难险胜后，卡拉特-阿拉木图将下定决心确保在欧冠抽签中获得一个历史性的席位，他们将于周二晚上在中央体育场欢迎凯尔特人。

哈萨克队上周在凯尔特公园球场打出了顽强的表现，在一场0比0的僵局中挫败了布兰登·罗杰斯的队员。尽管控球率明显下降，进攻中几乎没有威胁，但当亚历山大·马尔蒂诺维奇破门时，拉斐尔·乌拉兹巴赫金的球队几乎取得了戏剧性的结果，只是因为越位被判无效。

卡拉特晋级到这个阶段已经是一个里程碑式的时刻，但由于他们令人印象深刻的主场战绩，阵营内的信心继续增长。他们最近五次在阿拉木图的欧洲比赛都取得了胜利，包括3-1战胜卢布尔雅那奥林匹亚，3-2逆转尤普斯，以及今夏早些时候在对阵布拉迪斯拉发的点球大战中取得戏剧性的胜利。至关重要的是，在预选赛中，他们还没有在本土丢过一球，这让中央体育场成为了一座堡垒。

对于凯尔特人来说，未能在格拉斯哥建立控制权给他们的哈萨克斯坦之旅带来了更大的压力。罗杰斯的球队将面临7000英里的阿拉木图之旅，历史并不站在他们这边，凯尔特人在之前的三次访问中都没有获胜。其中包括两场失利，突显了苏格兰球队在此前一直困扰的环境中面临的挑战。

使问题进一步复杂化的是比赛的时间安排。本赛季的第一场老公司德比仅在五天之后，凯尔特人的主教练必须小心地管理他的阵容，同时还要与几名伤员作斗争。右后卫阿利斯泰尔·约翰斯顿在首回合的腿筋受伤后将缺阵到11月，而前锋亚当·伊达和后卫奥斯顿·托拉斯也将缺阵。积极的一面是，本杰明·尼格伦在周末3-0战胜利文斯顿的比赛中的进球及时提振了球队的进攻信心。

尽管如此，凯尔特人还是带着他们的血统和经验来到这里，他们在之前的三场比赛中都成功地与哈萨克对手进行了谈判。苏格兰冠军仍然决心连续第四个赛季进入小组赛，尽管这场比赛可能是考验，但他们的实力最终会发光。

卡拉特几乎完全恢复了状态，尽管主力门将扎鲁茨基还不确定，他可能被阿纳尔别科夫取代。老桑塔纳和若昂·保罗由于十字韧带受伤将长期缺阵。凯尔特人没有约翰斯顿，伊达和托拉斯，尽管罗杰斯希望依靠他的核心中场三人组麦格雷戈，雷奥·哈特和尼古拉斯·恩格斯来控制比赛。

卡拉特强大的主场战绩和防守韧性让他们有充分的理由相信他们可以把凯尔特人逼到极限。