This time last year we were facing a daunting, and gruelling trip to Kazakhstan with our Champions League aspirations very much on the line.
Having flopped at home against minnows Kairat Almaty, we made the long journey, and were ultimately made to pay as the Kazakh side beat us on spot kicks to kill off our Champions League aspirations, and confine us to the Europa League.
The only 'new' additions to Brendan Rodgers pool of players for those two games were the returning Kieran Tierney (who had signed a pre-contract months earlier) with Shin Yamada, loan signing Jahmai Simpson Pusey, and Callum Osmand the other new recruits, but were very much seen as bench players at the most.
Temirlan Anarbekov of Kairat clutches the ba during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
That failure to add any real quality to our side was the biggest factor for our failure not just in Europe, but the following few months to follow. Something that resulted in Brendan Rodgers deciding enough was enough, which culminated in the Irishman handing in his notice.

#league #almaty #brendan

After becoming one of the Premier League's main 'banter clubs' last season, Chelsea will head into the 2026/27 season with a point to prove.
The scattergun approach to transfer business coupled with impatience towards managers ultimately took a heavy toll on the Blues' fortunes last term.
Xabi Alonso has been appointed to steady the ship, and it will be intriguing to see if he can get Chelsea heading in the right direction again.
Without further ado, read on as we ******* s Chelsea's hopes of enjoying a productive 2026/27 Premier League campaign.
IN:Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa, £117m), Quenda (Sporting CP, £44m), Pep Chavarria (Rayo Vallecano, £16.3m), Denner (Corinthians, £8.7m), Dastan Satpaev (Kairat Almaty, £2.1m), Emmanuel Emegha (Strasbourg, undisclosed), Marco Palestra (Atalanta, undisclosed), Harrison Bettoni (Wigan Athletic, undisclosed), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace, undisclosed), Danny Welbeck (Brighton & Hove Albion, undisclosed), Jordan Henderson (free agent), Valentin Barco (undisclosed),

#Chelsea

Celtic will face LASK in the Champions League play-offs.
Martin O'Neill's side were drawn out first against the Austrian champions.
The Hoops avoided a potential rematch with Kairat Almaty, who knocked Celtic out on penalties at the same stage last season following a goalless 210 minutes of action.
The first leg will take place on 18 or 19 August with the second leg the following week.
The Linz-based club won the Austrian Bundesliga for the second time last season, finishing two points ahead of defending champions Sturm Graz.

#austrian #first #following #second

Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Motherwell and Rangers now have a clearer idea of who they might face in Europa League and Conference League qualifying after Uefa confirmed the groupings for Monday's draws.
Celtic already knew their potential opponents in their Champions League play-off, with their draw at 11:00 BST and the Europa League draw an hour later, followed by the Conference League at 13:00.
Now Rangers know that, if they defeat Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok in the third round of Europa League qualifying, they will face either Lillestrom of Norway, the winners of the tie between Northern Irish champions Larne and Iberia 1999 of Georgia, or the losers of two Champions League qualifiers - between Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) and Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan) or Mjallby (Sweden) and Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia).
Having dropped down from Champions League qualifying, Hearts face Benfica and the winners of that also have four possible opponents.
Those are OFI Crete, the winners of Thun (Switzerland) and Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland), or the losers of two Champions League qualifiers - AGF Aarhus (Denmark) and Sabah (Azerbaijan) and Dinamo (Croatia) and Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania).

#league #rangers

Joao Pedro scored a late hat-trick as Chelsea kickstarted the Xabi Alonso win with a thrilling 6-4 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.
Chelsea overcame the A-League side in a 10-goal contest to begin their tour of Australia, with Pedro the difference.
Alonso named an inexperienced side for the fixture with only Tosin Adarabioyo, Josh Acheampong and Liam Delap regulars in the first-team group last season
Alonso's side led inside six minutes through 17-year-old Dastan Satpayev, who has arrived at Chelsea this summer from Kairat Almaty. An end-to-end first half then saw Western Sydney Wanderers turn the game around, before Dario Essugo equalised for Chelsea before half-time.
The action continued after the interval, with Dylan Scicluna scoring for the Australian side and Jamie Gittens levelling once more for Chelsea. Teenager Awan Lual put Western Sydney Wanderers ahead for a third time, only for Pedro's late treble to earn Chelsea the win.

#side

Qualification for the Champions League group stages is vital for a club of Celtic's stature, not just for the prestige, but the financial rewards that are on offer, which are currently at an all time high with a minimum figure of £30 – £40 million to be made just for competing in the newly tweaked group stage format.
Reo Hatate of Celtic challenges for the ball with Yerkin Tapalov of Kairat Almaty during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Last year we failed in our quest to qualify for the fourth consecutive year, frustratingly falling to Kazakh minnows Kairat. That meant we had to make do with a place in the Europa League, but it was probably a blessing in disguise due to the state of our squad last season, as one can only wonder what humiliation we would have endured at that elite level.
That was down to the Celtic Board failing disgracefully to build on the previous season when Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side came within a few seconds of beating Bayern Munich on their own turf. No replacement for Kyogo was found and the player who scored in Munich, Nicolas Kuhn was sold for £17m a year ago yesterday.
This year we are in a similar situation as this time 12 months ago due to our last day ****** le win, which sees us just two legs away from mixing it with Europe's elite, as well as a guaranteed multi-million pound Champions League pay day.

UEFA Champions League (Playoffs)
12:00 PM – Kairat Almaty vs Sutjeska – GOL BR Channel
Brazilian U-20 Championship
3:00 PM – Corinthians vs Palmeiras – UOL Channel and YouTube/UOL Esporte