Kairat Almaty achieved a big victory today, I didn’t think they could beat Celtic, but everything was decided in the penalty shootout, where luck plays a big role. Celtic had to win at home, in that match Kairat Almaty only defended, but today it was a different game, more balanced, and either team could have won. Another surprise could be Pafos if Crvena Zvezda fails to win the away match, at the moment it’s 0-0.
Yeah a bit surprised to see Celtic knocked out even though they are one of the familiar teams in the Champions League, this is not just luck but clearly we are seeing a decline in performance from Celtic. We already have several teams that have secured their place in this second leg, Kairat, Pafos, Bodo Glimt, Qarabag and still waiting for 3 more teams tomorrow, of course Benfica vs Fenerbahce caught our attention and a draw in the first leg is an advantage for Benfica this means that in the second leg Benfica will play at home with full support from the fans..
Celtic is a team that we all know with their good performance, but a very big surprise here is that Kairat won against Celtic. I was like, 'How did it happen?' because I put too much hope on Celtics that they would win this game, but they ended up losing.
I'm very sure this is a sign of decline in their performance because if not for a decline in performance, Celtic should have found it very easy to win against Kairat. I was expecting Celtic to use the experience and good performance they have been known for during that match, but they didn't.