Kairat Almaty has been dealt a new setback just hours before their Champions League play-off second leg against Celtic, as winger Edmilson Filho has been ruled out due to injury.
The Brazilian forward, who was the starter in the goalless first leg at Celtic Park last week, sustained an injury during training and will be unable to participate in the decisive match tonight, according to Sports.kz.
Dastan Satpaev, the adolescent star of the Kazakh team, has already been suspended following a booking deep into stoppage time in Glasgow. This is the second significant setback the team has suffered in the lead-up to the match.
Edmilson was the man who caused the most trouble in the first leg and came closest to scoring for the visitors. He narrowly missed with a long-range effort after capitalizing on a rare Cameron Carter-Vickers error.
Kairat’s attack is substantially weakened by his absence, which, in conjunction with Satpaev’s suspension, provides Celtic with a significant advantage as they strive to secure Champions League qualification.
Zarutskiy, the team’s first-choice goalkeeper, is also unavailable due to his stretcher-related injury at Celtic Park last week.
Brendan Rodgers’ team is aware that a victory in Almaty will guarantee their entry into the league stages and the £40m payout that accompanies it. The absence of major attacking threats from the home team has rendered Celtic’s task slightly more manageable.
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