The fiery first leg encounter played out at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland, on August 20 th, 2025. The disheartening result for the Scottish outfit was an unacceptable 2-2 draw. Enraged supporters displayed their displeasure by singing to the club’s hierarchy, with specific criticism directed towards the CEO Peter Lawwell and Director of Football Michael Nicholson. After the match, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers responded to these worries and looked back on his team’s performance.
Rodgers was back in the dugout with Celtic this season. In-depth TNT Sports interview Chief, where he opened up about the match. Indeed, he reiterated that his players were not intense enough and lost belief during the first half of the game. This collective frailty allowed Kairat Almaty to resoundingly take the initiative. In the first half we were a bit too passive, lacking a bit of belief and we were very slow. The complete absence of everything that’s been wonderful about our game for the last 30 years… it just wasn’t there,” he said.
Even after a defensive reshuffle, the game put a lot of pressure on Celtic’s back line. When playing out of the back in the 32nd minute, defender Alastair Johnston picked up a hamstring injury. Johnston was substituted out for Anthony Ralston—that substitution was symbolic of the uphill battle the team was fighting throughout the match. Coming off these disappointments, Rodgers took comfort in how his squad rebounded in the second period.
“We had to correct that at half-time, and we had a much better response right from the off in the second half,” Rodgers said. He admitted that Celtic came very close to opening the scoring, hitting the post and creating multiple chances to score. Time and again, they failed in the final third because of a lack of quality. “We just lacked that little bit of quality that you need to break them down,” he added.
Celtic captain Callum McGregor was in agreement on the performance. He emphasized the need for greater intensity, stating, “In the first half, we never had enough intensity in the game. We were too slow, too passive, with and without the ball, and that gives them a bit of encouragement in the game and makes the place anxious.”
Fans’ frustrations boiled over further as they chanted for the board to leave the club at key and painful points in the match. Rodgers accepted this anger and accepted that these types of chants indicate something much worse is slipping through the cracks of a club. “I do know that, over many years, ‘sack the board’ normally means ‘sack the manager.’ It’s normally the manager that goes when that starts to be sung,” he remarked.
Even without adding a final-minute signing before the game, Rodgers’ attention was rightfully focused on putting his current squad in the best position to succeed. “I can only really look at the players we have here and the performance,” he stated when discussing player availability.
The second half saw Celtic change their tactical approach, subbing on Hyun-Jun Yang for Adam Idah. They even rotated Daizen Maeda to the Nº9 role. These substitutions were meant to bring new life to the team and add more attackers as they pushed to find an equalizer.
Next for Celtic is a Scottish Premiership match against Livingston on Saturday. Rodgers and McGregor will faceoff March 3, 2015. They’re just as keen to add to their impressive second-half comeback against Kairat Almaty and re-establish their positive trajectory after a stuttering start to their season.
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