KAIRAT ALMATY will be hoping to pull off the miracle of all miracles when they visit the Emirates Stadium tonight – not least because they have had to travel round the world TWICE to even try.
The Kazakhstani club travelled 3,504 miles to get to North London, just to face top of the table Arsenal in a dead rubber that seems to be a foregone conclusion.
It takes their total distance travelled for the Champions League this season to an astonishing 52,938 miles when including their qualification fixtures – a distance more than twice the Earth’s circumference.
So it’s no surprise that they have managed just one point in the competition this season and are rock bottom of the pile.
The Kazakhstani team is actually based in Asia, with their home ground significantly closer to Beijing than it is to London, but they were granted membership by Uefa in 2002.
That mammoth distance has made bringing an away following with them particularly difficult.
In fact, when they played Copenhagen in November there were more Kairat players on the pitch than there were fans in the away end, after just TEN supporters made the trip to Denmark.
However, some 2,000 away supporters are expected at the Emirates tonight, with a significant number of those heading over from Kazakhstan.
Their supporters have even had to travel for home games too, after Kairat were forced to play their last two Champions League home games nearly 800 miles away in Astana, due to temperatures dropping as low as -30 degrees at their usual home.
It’s not just the unbelievable amount of Air Miles racked up by Kairat that puts them at a disadvantage, but also their lack of game time.
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The Kazakhstan Premier Liga ended its season in October, meaning Kairat have been fighting to keep match-sharp for over three months having only played in Europe since then.
They have played just four competitive games since the start of November and have even had to organise friendlies to keep fitness levels up.
In spite of all of that, Kairat is home to a Chelsea wonderkid expected to take the Premier League by storm in the future.
Dastan Satpaev, 17, is set to join Chelsea next summer in a £4m move after he was spotted by Blues scouts when playing for Kairat’s U17s.
The teen went on a two-week trial at Cobham where he stopped for pictures with Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez – players that will soon be his teammates.
Satpaev isn’t short of talent, scoring 14 times and registering seven assists in his 26 league games last season.
The youngster, who is an injury doubt for tonight’s game, may become Kairat’s first ever homegrown star, with the club previously acting as a retirement home for top players past their prime – including former Arsenal ace Andrey Arshavin.
