FC Astana: Who exactly are TNS’ UEFA Conference League opponents?
Astana Arena before the UEFA Champions League play-off round match between FC Astana and Celtic FC. (Image: ChelseaFunNumberOne/Wikimedia Commons)
TNS will play their first ever home European group stage match on Thursday night, as they welcome Kazakh side FC Astana to Shrewsbury in the UEFA Conference League.
After a good showing out in Florence away to Fiorentina, expectations have been raised slightly about what the Saints are capable of during this campaign.
However, Astana will not be easy opponents. Here is everything you need to know about The Citizens.
History
In a sense, TNS and FC Astana’s histories are more common than you think. In December 2008, clubs Almaty Megasport and Alma-Ata merged to form a club initially called FC Lokomotiv Astana. With a large backing behind them, the club were able to attract some high-profile names from the Russian Premier League. In March 2009, the club played their first competitive games in the Kazakhstan Premier League, and the club were successful, as they finished second.
After a series of top half finishes, the club wanted to push on to try and capture their first league title, and they appointed Bulgarian Stanimir Stoilov. It’s fair to say, he pushed FC Astana to the next level. Four straight league titles, along with plenty of other silverware helped to confirm Astana’s place as Kazakhstan’s number one team.
Stoilov left in 2018, and Astana weren’t quite the serial trophy winning side Kazakhstan had become accustomed to. Only two titles have come their way in the last five seasons, and they finished second behind Ordabasy, meaning they would play UEFA Conference League football this season.
Manager
In the dugout for Astana will be Grigory Babayan.
Having taken interim charge of Astana on four separate occasions between 2013 and 2018, Babayan took his first steps into senior management in Russia.
The Kazakh managed Tobol for two seasons, before taking on yet another interim management role, this time with Russian giants CSKA Moscow.
Babayan became manager of Astana in September 2022 but is yet to win a trophy in his time at the club.
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Players to Watch
A number of this Astana team play for the Kazakhstan national team. Defensive midfielder Islambek Kuat has over 60 caps to his name, defender Yan Vorogovsky has over 40, while striker Elkhan Astanov has scored recently.
Outside of their homegrown core, a number of international players call the Kazakh capital home. Belarusian midfielder Max Ebong has over 40 international caps, and has been at the club since 2020. Croatian defender Branimir Kalacia came through the academy at Benfica, while North Macedonia’s Nazmi Gripshi has already played European football with Kosovan club Ballkani.
Overall, this is an Astana team with plenty of experience and knowhow.
Current season
We are coming towards the end of the Kazakh season, and things could not be more tense for FC Astana.
With most clubs having three games to go, only two points separate first place Ordabasy and fifth place Elimai. Astana are currently third, but crucially, have a game in hand on the two sides above them.
Having to balance trying to win the league with competing in Europe is a tricky task, but that’s the challenge Babayan has to contend with.
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European pedigree
As you might expect, with league dominance comes European matches, and Astana have had plenty of them, especially against big names.
Their greatest achievement came in the 2015-16 season, as they became the first, and still only, Kazakh club to reach the Champions League group stages. There, they were drawn against Benfica, Atletico Madrid, and Galatasaray. Remarkably, they drew with all three on home soil, and picked up a draw away to the Turkish side but failed to get out of the group phase.
Most of their success has come in the Europa League. Twice they got out of the group phase, but they were defeated by Villarreal in 2015, and then by Sporting Lisbon in 2018. But their greatest ever European moment came in the continent’s secondary competition, as they picked up a 2-1 win at home against Manchester United in 2019.
Group stage appearances have been hard to come by since that win over the Red Devils. However, their last European experience saw them reach the Conference League group stage last year, but they failed to make it out of their group.
European nights have become a regular feature for the Yellow and Blues, but Thursday night will mark the first time and Kazakh club has played a side in the Cymru Premier.
