Eliminating Celtic, the "Most Asian" Champions League Team is Born

Written by Han Bing Following Daizen Maeda’s missed penalty for Celtic, the home side Almaty Kairat triumphed 3-2 in the shootout to knock out the Scottish powerhouse Celtic. This Kazakh club not only reached the Champions League group stage for the first time but also became the easternmost team ever to participate in the tournament. The new season’s Champions League features a journey from Lisbon in the far west to Almaty in the far east, covering over 6,900 kilometers — roughly the distance between Beijing and Istanbul — marking the longest away trip in Champions League history. Previously little-known in European football, Almaty Kairat will now be recorded in Champions League history as the “most distant team.”

Ten years ago, in April 2015, Almaty Kairat won the Futsal European Championship in Lisbon, the westernmost point in Europe, setting a record for the longest journey in European football history at 6,911 kilometers. The Scottish giants Celtic, who were eliminated by Almaty Kairat this time, once held the record for the longest intercontinental journey by a European team (11,304 kilometers) during the 1967 Intercontinental Cup, where they lost to Argentina’s Racing Club. In the 2016/17 and 2017/18 Champions League third qualifying rounds, Celtic twice eliminated Kazakhstan’s FC Astana after long trips of nearly 5,500 kilometers but failed to win away matches. This time, luck finally favored the Kazakh team.

Before Almaty Kairat, the easternmost team in the Champions League was also from Kazakhstan (FC Astana). In 2015, FC Astana advanced through three qualifying rounds to reach the Champions League group stage. In the 2015/16 season, the westernmost team Benfica and the easternmost FC Astana were drawn in the same group. The flight distance between Lisbon and Astana was 6,173 kilometers, exceeding the distance between Beijing and Moscow (5,900 kilometers). The direct flight from Beijing to Almaty is about 3,270 kilometers.

Almaty is only 330 kilometers from the Khorgos border crossing in Xinjiang, China, and 413 kilometers from Yining, Xinjiang. The direct flight takes just 55 minutes, and driving takes less than six hours. For Chinese fans, Almaty Kairat’s four Champions League home matches can be watched live by traveling from Yining, making it the closest ever trip to attend a Champions League game.

Almaty is just 660 kilometers from Tashkent, a city with frequent AFC Champions League participants, and is culturally and geographically part of Central Asia. In fact, Kazakhstan belonged to the AFC before 2002 and participated in the 1998 final round of the Asian qualifiers. Almaty Kairat’s first entry into intercontinental competition was in the 1997/98 Asian Cup Winners’ Cup. Since the 2005/06 season, this is Almaty Kairat’s third attempt at the Champions League qualifiers, and this time they passed four rounds, winning the last two by penalty shootouts, earning their debut in the Champions League group stage.

In the 2021/22 inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League, Almaty Kairat reached the main European competition for the first time, becoming the easternmost team in European competition history. The westernmost team that season was Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar, with a flight distance of 6,791 kilometers between them and Almaty Kairat. The easternmost team in European competition history was Russia’s Novosibirsk (in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League qualifiers), with a flight distance exceeding 9,000 kilometers to Santa Clara in the Atlantic Ocean. However, these two teams have never met in European competition.

Theoretically, even longer travel distances in European competitions exist. If Russia’s easternmost professional team, Vladivostok’s Luch Energiya, entered European competition, or if a team from France’s Caribbean overseas territories qualified via the French Cup, the record for the longest travel distance would be greatly surpassed. A match between Cayenne, the champion from French Guiana in South America, and Vladivostok’s Luch Energiya would involve an eastward flight distance exceeding 30,000 kilometers. The westward flight for Cayenne would be shorter but still over 16,000 kilometers. Of course, such a European match is almost impossible.

Besides the new easternmost Champions League group stage team Almaty Kairat, this morning’s Champions League playoffs also produced the northernmost team in Champions League group stage history. The Norwegian newcomer Bodø/Glimt eliminated Austria’s Sturm Graz, and after four qualifying rounds, reached the Champions League group stage for the first time. Bodø/Glimt is located within the Arctic Circle, making it the northernmost team in Champions League group stage history. Additionally, the Cypriot dark horse Pafos caused an upset by eliminating Eastern European powerhouse Red Star Belgrade, becoming the fourth debutant in this season’s Champions League group stage. Unfortunately, Pafos’s city is slightly north of Tel Aviv, the previous southernmost team, so it did not become the new southernmost participant.

This morning’s Champions League playoffs have produced new easternmost and northernmost teams in the group stage, significantly expanding the geographical “map” of the Champions League proper for the new season.