Slovan Bratislava vs Kairat Almaty prediction 12.08.2025 | Champions League qualification

Slovan Bratislava regularly plays in the group phase of European competitions. Last year, they played in the Champions League, but finished 35th of 36 teams in the regular part of the competition. This season, the Slovakian champions had a good start with four games without defeat in all competitions before a loss in Almaty. Slovan Bratislava usually plays much better at the home stadium, so they will feel confident that they can beat Kairat Almaty and progress to the playoff round. 

Slovan's Rahim Ibrahim got a red card in the second leg against Kairat Almaty and will not play on Tuesday in the second round. Instead of the midfielder, we should expect Danylo Ignatenko to start. Late in the game against Kairat, Slovan's head coach, Vladimir Weiss, got a red card too, so he will not lead his team in the upcoming tie. 

The Kazakhstani teams haven't played in the Champions League since 2015, so Kairat hopes to break the bad run. The team from Almaty already cleared two hurdles in the qualifications, against Olimpija Ljubljana and KuPS, and now have an advantage against Slovan Bratislava after the first leg. In the Kazakhstani national league, Kairat Almaty are playing well, too, as they are three points ahead of their closest rival, Astana. Kairat are currently in a run of four wins in a row and will travel to Bratislava with a lot of confidence. 

Kairat Almaty will have almost the full squad for the second leg in Bratislava, as Joao Paulo and Elder Santana should be the only ones unavailable. The head coach, Rafael Urazbakhtin, might decide to field the same starting eleven after a solid victory in Almaty.