Celtic miss out on Champions League after penalty shootout defeat by Kairat Almaty

Beyond midnight, many miles beyond the borders of Europe, Temirlan Anarbekov was writing his name into Celtic infamy. The 21‑year‑old rookie goalkeeper had made the penalty shootout saves that guided Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty into the Champions League group stage.

Adam Idah, Luke McCowan and Daizen Maeda each saw attempts saved by a keeper turned to in emergency. Kasper Schmeichel, his opposite number, could only offer congratulations as Celtic incurred the heavy cost of a poor performance over 210 goalless minutes before their lack of composure from the spot.

The Celtic board’s unpopular decision to wait for transfer business until Champions League qualification was banked now looks prudent. But would an injection of fresh attacking talent have made a difference? Where does this failure leave Brendan Rodgers’s reign? To Celtic, reaching the elite competition would have been worth four times the qualification revenue and win bonuses of the Europa League. Instead, history and destiny lie with Kairat. From Kazakhstan, only Astana, a decade ago, had previously reached the Champions League group stage.

Celtic will not be returning to the 36‑team group stage they graced last season, and from which they qualified into the knockouts. A “bitterly disappointed” Rodgers fronted up. “It’s very frustrating,” he said, harking back a year ago. “We showed a glimpse of what we can do at this level. But we haven’t been able to show that over the course of these two games.”

Domestic dominance had allowed rotation from a weekend win against Livingston but a lack of quality peers is suboptimal for a key engagement so early in a season. That lack of fresh talent had caused fretting among Bhoys supporters, 300 of whom had travelled 3,500 miles to Central Asia. In Almaty, new calls of “sack the board” were heard. An Old Firm derby with Rangers follows this Sunday.

“We all know the consequence,” Rodgers said. “If you don’t win the tie, then you drop into the Europa League. We want to be in the Champions League but we aren’t.” On a hot evening in an open-plan, hostile stadium, Rodgers’s team struggled to break down a high-energy, highly motivated opponent. They returned to Glasgow in sorrow, embarking on what their manager described as a “long, long journey … we’ll just get back early hours of tomorrow morning and then we’ll get ready for another big game Sunday”.

Not until midway through the first half did James Forrest have the first Celtic chance, saved by Anarbekov, standing in for the injured regular Aleksandr Zarutskiy, laying a marker for later heroics. Within a drab first half, high stakes flatlined entertainment value. Amid humidity and high altitude, Celtic levels dropped even from their equally drab first‑leg performance. Callum McGregor’s blocked shot was their second – and last – effort of the half.

“It was pretty scrappy, but we had moments and on another night probably go through, but you know, we’d have to suck it up,” said McGregor, the captain. “We are so disappointed. We really want Champions League football, but it shows you that on any given night you have to be on the level. If you don’t quite carry the luck and you’re not quite there, then you won’t go through.”

Rodgers made copious notes during the first half but Celtic still lacked fluency in the second. Schmeichel almost came to grief when McGregor volleyed the ball backwards. In panic, the keeper punched the ball. An indirect free-kick resulted but Jorginho could only clatter into a mass of hooped shirts.

Extra time and midnight local time beckoned, only for a golden chance to fall Maeda’s way. Played clean through by McGregor, Anarbekov surging out, a wealth of options presented but the finish lacked any composure. Another 30 minutes of stalemate followed.

There, concerted Celtic pressure at last arrived but Kairat held firm. Penalties would decide the far less lucrative fork in the road Celtic must now take. The Kazakh club are headed to Europe’s promised land.