STOILOV SEES NO WAY BACK FOR ASTANA
ASTANA coach Stanimir Stoilov concedes his team harbour little hope of halting Celtic’s march to the Champions League. The Kazakh champions left Glasgow reeling from a 5-0 battering. And Stoilov gives his team just a one-per-cent chance of becoming the first team in Champions League history to overhaul a five-goal, first-leg deficit. ‘I have to be realistic,’ said Stoilov. ‘Celtic are 99-per-cent through to the group stage. ‘Our chances are not so great, but anything can happen. But to be realistic, Celtic will be going through.’ Reminded of Barcelona’s comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 last season, the Astana coach is pragmatic. ‘Barcelona can do these kind of things — we don’t,’ he admitted. ‘But 5-0 is the best motivation for our players. We want to play well. ‘I think this will be a good match. We will do everything to win. ‘The team is feeling stressed after last week. We need to try to do much better. We made mistakes in the first match, but there was five shots and five goals. ‘The team has prepared very well and we will make it a good game.’ Stoilov rates the Celtic side assembled by Brendan Rodgers good enough to progress to the last 16 after failing to win a group game last season. ‘We will have to see after the game and the draw,’ he added. ‘If they manage to avoid some of the top sides, then they are capable of getting through the group stage.’ Midfielder Ivan Mayewski, meanwhile, has warned Astana they risk being picked off on the break if they go for broke. ‘Everyone wants to win by more than five goals, but we have to be realistic,’ said the Belarusian. ‘First of all, we have to win the match to make the fans happy, because they always support us. ‘We need to make sure we don’t go all-out attack in all positions because Celtic are very good on the counter and punishing teams. ‘It’s not just about the midfielders, the defenders or the attackers. We need all 11 players to play well.’