€117m market value gap
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It was a catastrophic night in Celtic’s illustrious history as they failed to qualify for the Champions League after an ignominious defeat to Kairat Almatay. The Kazakhstan side pulled off a huge shock as they emerged 3-2 winners on penalties after both ties ended in a goalless draw. It’s unquestionably one of the worst results in Celtic’s history and has significant financial consequences with Parkhead chiefs missing out on a €40m Champions League windfall.
The inquest has already begun in Glasgow with Celtic supporters furious at a lack of signings this summer with just €3.53m invested this summer – 225 clubs have spent more during this transfer window. Brendan Rodgers has also received significant criticism as Celtic should’ve eased past Kairat given their relative squads – Celtic’s squad is €117m more valuable on Transfermarkt. It’s hard to completely quantify how big of a shock Celtic’s elimination is, but it ranks second in the history of the Champions League based on UEFA rankings.
The biggest shock Champions League eliminations based on UEFA rankings
Celtic are currently ranked 57th in UEFA’s rankings, with Kairat Almatay in 244nd place. Therefore, 187 places separate the two clubs in the rankings, which is the second biggest differential between one team eliminated by another in the history of the Champions League (qualifying included.) As the graphic below illustrates, Sheriff Tiraspol’s elimination at the hands of Iberia Tbilisi in 2019 ranks top as there was 208 places between the two clubs on the UEFA rankings.
Kairat Almatay feature again on the top ten list after they beat Slovan Bratislava to set up their play-off clash against Celtic. The Kazakhstan club have qualified for the Champions League league phase/group phase for the first time in their history and some major European clubs will face a long-trip to Almatay, with the city based in Asia. Marseille are the only top five league club to feature in the list after they were eliminated by Panathinaikos in 2023.