Callum McGregor says Celtic must maximise home advantage against Kairat
Captain Callum McGregor has challenged Celtic to maximise home advantage in the first leg of their Champions League play-off against Kairat Almaty before a gruelling trip to Kazakhstan.
The Hoops learned on Tuesday they will face the Kazakh champions, who defeated Slovan Bratislava on penalties in the third qualifying round.
McGregor was part of the Celtic side that last played an opponent from the country, when they beat Astana 8-4 on aggregate in a Champions League qualifier in 2017 but only after losing 4-3 in the away leg.
The skipper knows the importance of ensuring they open up a first-leg lead at Celtic Park next Wednesday.
"It's going to be a tough tie," McGregor said in a club interview. "Obviously the travel and everything else comes into that and the preparation.
"We've got the home game first and we want to try and maximise that, as we would against any opponent, but it could be even more important now that we try and do the absolute maximum to get a good result at home, and then negotiate the travel.
"It's a tough team and we know it will be a tough tie. It's a good tie for us but one that we'll have to be at our best to get through. Hopefully we can go over there with belief from the first game."
Manager Brendan Rodgers, who was in charge for the tie against Astana eight years ago, admitted a trip to Kazakhstan is not ideal.
"Of course, everyone would have preferred a shorter travelling distance, but they got through, they won the tie, so we'll play the two legs and our objective is to get through," he said.
"We can really analyse them now and be prepared for the first leg next week. We'll do everything we can to make sure we get into the league phase."
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