Kairat Almaty: Why one of many world’s largest soccer groups is touring 4,000 miles to play a Champions League match in Asia

Whenever the UEFA Champions League (UCL) anthem performs, tens of millions of individuals all over the world perk up and get excited on the prospect of witnessing among the greatest membership soccer on the planet.

While the music primarily based on Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” has performed by means of tv screens in Kazakhstan for years, it had by no means echoed round Kairat Almaty’s Central Stadium till this summer time.

“For me, it is a childhood dream,” mentioned Kairat midfielder Adilet Sadybekov throughout a press convention earlier than the staff’s Champions League play-off in opposition to Scottish membership Celtic in August. “Tomorrow, all of Kazakhstan will hear the anthem in Almaty, and for everyone, I think, it is also a small dream come true.”

After 210 minutes with no aim throughout two legs, Kairat eradicated Celtic on penalties to achieve the UCL league section – the brand new format launched in 2024–25 to interchange the group stage. At the middle of all of it was 21-year-old goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov, who saved three spot-kicks to propel his membership into Europe’s elite discipline.

For one evening, Almaty shared the identical heartbeat. Students crowded round dormitory screens, a marriage paused for the ultimate kick, and automotive horns rang out as flags streamed from open home windows.

“The emotions are overflowing,” head coach Rafael Urazbakhtin advised Qazsport TV. “The most important thing is to believe.”

The celebrations had barely light when consideration turned to the Champions League attract late August, when Kairat earned a date with a few of Europe’s largest golf equipment amongst their eight opponents, together with competitors report winner Real Madrid. In Kazakhstan, the younger soccer gamers watched collectively, gripping their heads in disbelief as their membership was matched with arguably the best membership in world soccer.

When tickets went on sale in Almaty on September 23, strict buy limits have been imposed as organizers braced for unprecedented demand.

Los Blancos are set to journey 4,000 miles east – greater than 1.5 occasions the space between New York and Los Angeles – after they face Kairat on Tuesday evening.

But why is a Spanish membership having to journey to Asia to play a European competitors?

Roughly a tenth of Kazakhstan’s territory lies west of the Ural River, considered one of Europe’s pure borders. That geography has lengthy positioned the Central Asian nation at a crossroads, straddling each Europe and Asia.

Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and simply over a decade later, turned decisively westward in soccer. Having been based in 1954, the membership – often known as Dynamo Almaty on the time – was already established by then, taking its present identify Kairat in 1956.

At European soccer governing physique UEFA’s Congress in Stockholm in April 2002, Kazakhstan was admitted because the confederation’s 52nd member after leaving the Asian Football Confederation the earlier 12 months. Soon after, a UEFA delegation flew east to examine stadiums in Almaty, Astana and Atyrau to make sure they met competitors requirements.

That summer time, Kazakhstan’s golf equipment entered UEFA competitions for the primary time, with Zhenis Astana participating within the Champions League qualifiers and Atyrau and Kairat Almaty in what was then often known as the UEFA Cup.

Since then, Kazakh groups have recurrently performed in UEFA competitions. FC Astana made historical past in 2015 as the primary aspect from the nation to achieve the Champions League group stage; Kairat Almaty is now the second.

Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest metropolis and former capital, rises in opposition to the snow-capped Ili Alatau mountains. Its identify attracts from the Kazakh phrase for apple, reflecting the wild orchards of the encircling valleys, that are believed to be the fruit’s birthplace.

On the Kazakh steppe, centuries of nomadic custom formed a tradition rooted in hospitality and neighborhood. Almaty’s streets bear the imprint of its layered historical past. Soviet-era house blocks line leafy boulevards and glass towers cluster within the monetary district. From spring to autumn, terraces and cafés spill into the open air, and the tempo of life softens as evenings stretch lengthy and heat.

At its coronary heart stands Central Stadium, opened in 1958, the stage now set for Kairat’s Champions League debut.

Midfielder Sadybekov mentioned togetherness has been central to Kairat’s run to the most important competitors in membership soccer.

“We are one united team,” he advised reporters forward of the staff’s UCL matches. “The atmosphere is very good, positive, and I think that’s why we have such good results because we can play calmly at this stage.”

Head coach Urazbakhtin agreed, describing what he referred to as the staff’s “microclimate.”

“Recently, we really came together strongly, and that’s already noticeable,” he advised reporters on the press convention. “The very standing of the match was a little bit completely different. There was a distinct stage of accountability. The gamers have been burning with want, as have been the coaches and our entire membership. Maybe that mixed vitality is what gave us this end result.

“After the European matches, the players clearly grow. They improve. We didn’t do anything supernatural. We just tried to work, to give all our strength. That goes for the players, the coaching staff, and all the employees of our club. Everyone simply did their job and tried to do it well.”

Almaty confirmed up in drive with over 100,000 ticket requests for the match in opposition to Celtic at dwelling, in response to Urazbakhtin.

August’s rush for tickets was solely the start. When Real Madrid arrives on Tuesday, the demand will check how a metropolis of two million competes for slightly below 24,000 seats in Central Stadium.

UEFA golf equipment have traveled to the perimeters of the confederation’s geography earlier than. In 2015, Portuguese large Benfica’s journey to Astana in Kazakhstan beforehand set the report for the longest journey in European membership competitors at roughly 3,830 miles.

Real Madrid’s journey to Almaty, although, is even longer than that. The air distance from Spain’s capital to Almaty is roughly 3,989 miles, crossing 5 time zones and Los Blancos must journey 13 hours within the air.

“It is another factor to take into account,” Emilio Butragueño, Madrid’s Director of Institutional Relations, mentioned of the mammoth journey on Real Madrid TV. “We’ve never played against them, and they’re very far away. Every game is going to be important, and all our opponents are particularly motivated. We will have to play at a high level and pay attention to the finer points.”

For the famed former Madrid participant, the space magnifies the stakes: “All the particularities make this match more difficult than people think.”

Almaty membership president Kairat Boranbayev joked to BBC Sport, “We congratulate Europe for expanding its borders to allow Kairat to play in these matches … We believe we will make a bit of noise in Europe.”

Head coach Urazbakhtin referred to as the chance to play Madrid in Kazakhstan “the kind of chance that probably comes only once in a lifetime” for his gamers. Clear-eyed in regards to the steep problem forward, he mentioned, “Of course, the competition will be very serious.”

While Madrid must journey a a lot additional distance than it’s accustomed to for a European fixture, Kairat has to journey roughly 15,500 miles – about 62% of the Earth’s circumference – for all of its Champions League matches.

Urazbakhtin advised the BBC: “When we got into the Champions League, we understood there would be travel but it is a reward rather than a problem. … This is the toughest exam for our football but also a reward, dream come true and historic moment for Kazakh football.”

Kairat entered the league section with out star goalkeeper Anarbekov, who suffered a jaw harm in a home match and is recovering, in response to the membership.

In his place, 18-year-old Sherkhan Kalmurza made his Champions League debut in Lisbon – a visit that set the record for distance traveled by a staff in competitors historical past at roughly 4,300 miles – in opposition to Sporting CP on Matchday 1. Joining the ranks of the youngest goalkeepers within the historical past of the UEFA Champions League, he saved a first-half penalty however conceded 4 occasions as Sporting switched gears after the break.

However, Brazilian ahead Edmilson de Paula Santos Filho did present some pleasure for the much-traveled guests, volleying dwelling Kairat’s first Champions League aim within the 86th minute.

Now the highlight shifts to Tuesday evening when Kairat performs host to the most important match in membership historical past in opposition to 15-time Champions League winner Real Madrid. For the Spanish large, it’s doubtless one more journey in opposition to a lesser-known underdog. For the younger Kazakhs, nonetheless, the evening shall be lengthy remembered within the membership’s lore – irrespective of the end result.