Celtic’s loss to Kairat Almaty in August has sent shockwaves through the entire campaign.
Yes, there were already problems brewing at Celtic, with supporters growing increasingly irritated and disillusioned with those steering the club from the Parkhead boardroom.
However, it feels like Celtic’s elimination by Kairat Almaty in the Champions League qualifiers — coupled with those two dull, flat and humiliating scoreless draws — ultimately pushed matters beyond breaking point.
The fallout has been dramatic. Celtic have since gone through three different managers in the technical area, while Kairat have gone on to enjoy a historic first season competing at Europe’s top table, as the league phase wrapped up on Wednesday.
Kairat Almaty end Champions League campaign bottom after dumping Celtic out
Unsurprisingly, Kairat Almaty finished at the foot of the 36-team Champions League group, collecting just a single point.
Even when Celtic were drawn against the Kazakh side, it was clear they were up against a modest outfit, vastly overachieving simply by reaching the qualifying rounds.
For Kairat, appearing and testing themselves against some of Europe’s biggest clubs was a reward in itself, with their Champions League journey ending after netting twice in a narrow 3-2 defeat to Arsenal.
A closer look at Kairat’s statistics and outcomes
What made Celtic’s penalty shootout defeat to Kairat particularly galling was their inability to score against the lowest-ranked team in the competition.
In many ways, it has come to define Celtic’s season, with goals continuing to be hard to come by — a problem encountered by Brendan Rodgers, Wilfried Nancy and Martin O’Neill alike.
Below is a snapshot of Kairat’s key figures.
Matches played: 8
Won: 0
Drawn: 1
Lost: 7
Goals scored: 7
Goals conceded: 22
Average possession: 43.25%
Results: Lost 4-1 away to Sporting Lisbon, thrashed 5-0 at home by Real Madrid, held to a goalless draw by PAFOS, beaten 2-1 at Inter, edged out 3-2 by Copenhagen, lost 1-0 at home to Olympiacos, suffered a 4-1 defeat to Club Brugge, and narrowly beaten 3-2 by Arsenal.