Celtic’s new Great Dane defies Brendan Rodgers’ soon to be Invincibles, and ruined James Forrest’s day at Celtic Park back in the summer of 2016…
The next round of Champions League qualifiers would be a different challenge entirely for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic, both in terms of quality and logistics, as the Hoops faced a 6,000-mile round trip to Asia to face Kazakh champions Astana. Although they nearly didn’t.
The club formed only seven years earlier as Lokomotiv Astana enjoyed sponsorship from the national railway company in Kazakhstan, allowing them to bring in players from Russia and Ukraine plus the best of the internal talent to quickly become the dominant force in the country, Lokomotiv changing their name to FC Astana in 2011. In November 2010, they had won their first national trophy, the Kazakhstan Cup, however, they were unable to take their place in the following season’s UEFA Europa League, having been in existence for less than three years. You will probably be familiar with that rule.
They would repeat that Cup feat in 2012 to access European football for the first time in July 2013, Astana losing both legs of their qualifying round tie to Bulgarians Botev Plovdiv. The coach of the victorious Botev side, Stanimir Stoilov, must have impressed the Kazakhs, as he was hired in June of the following year.
Plovdiv’s Astana made decent progress in their second assault on the Europa League. In the first qualifier they cruised past Armenians Pyunik Yerevan on a 6-1 aggregate, then accounted for Hapoel Tel Aviv by 3-1 in the next round. Sweden’s AIK Solna – Johan Mjallby’s old side – were next to fall, this time by four goals to one, following a tremendous 3-0 victory in the Stockholm suburbs. The great run was finally brought to an end at the Play-off stage by Spanish cracks Villarreal, Astana sunk home and away by El Submarino Giallo for a 7-0 aggregate defeat. It had been a tremendous effort by a club not yet five years in existence. European football was now aware of a new threat from the East.
A few months later, Astana would have another reason to celebrate, a first Kazakhstan Premier League title clinched on 1 November 2014, securing passage into the Champions League of 2015/16. They would again go on to defy the odds, beating NK Maribor, conquerors of Celtic the previous season, then HJK Helsinki before facing thirds seeds Apoel Nicosia in the Play-off. Just as Deila’s Celtic, seeded second, found that label offered no protection in Malmo, so the Cypriots fell to Astana, as the Kazakhs became the first-ever team from their nation to reach the group stage of the Champions League. They would face a tough challenge – paired with Benfica, Atlético Madrid and Galatasaray – however there was certainly no disgrace in their performance, drawing all three home games plus the visit to Istanbul.
There would be some consolation in November 2015 for their European exit, as Astana clinched their second consecutive title, offering up another tilt at the Big Cup. Their first-round opponents this time would be the Lithuanians of Zalgiris Vilnius. For once the Kazakhs would start as favourites, a goalless draw in Lithuania setting things up nicely for the return. However, as the game moved into stoppage time, it was looking very much like a trip to the Baltic for Rodgers’ Celtic, the match tied at 1-1 giving the visitors that critical advantage of the away goal.
Then lightning struck twice. Bosnian defender Marin Anicic had earlier put Astana ahead with just his second goal for the club, following his move from Zrinjski Mostar in February 2014. As the referee checked his watch, he would somehow manage to treble his goalscoring tally for Astana, Anicic’s last-gasp winner taking the Kazakhstan champions through, causing heartbreak to fans of Zalgiris and Celtic alike, as the costs of the flights became clear!
On the Saturday before heading to Kazakhstan, Celtic hosted shock English champions Leicester City in the first of their International Champions Cup-ties, around 33,000 in the ground for the evening kick-off. With the Hoops still missing injured defenders Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata, Cork-born youngster Eoghan O’Connell was given a rare start beside Mikael Lustig and Saidy Janko in a three-man defence, whilst a potential recruit, Kolo Toure, watched from the stand.
After a dull first period, English Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez brought the game to life within seconds of the restart, cutting in from the right to send a fantastic curling shot past Craig Gordon.
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