Astana vs Young Boys Bern is the first encounter between the two sides in a UEFA competition. In fact, the only previous meeting between a Kazakh and a Swiss club was in 2006 when FC Basel defeated Tobol Kostanay 3-1 on aggregate in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup—the predecessor of the Europa League.
Kazakh football, however, has taken significant steps in the past ten years, for Astana became the first club from Kazakhstan last season to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. This season, however, Celtic Glasgow eliminated them in the third round of the Champions League qualification round.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the Champions League group stage, however, Astana rallied in the Europa League playoffs to eliminate BATE Borisov, and reached the group stage of a UEFA competition for a second year in a row (for more history on the club read Astana’s full Europa League preview right here).
Astana did, however, lose their first Europa League group stage match away against the Cypriot club APOEL Nicosia 2-1. This means that Astana will have to play for a positive result if they want to retain their chance to capture one of the two top spots in Group B.
In this regard, Astana can take significant encouragement from their recent home results in international football. Young Boys will have to travel 4,550 km to Astana, making this the longest away trip in history for a Swiss club.
Indeed, Astana has been strong at home, in that they have not been defeated at home since August 2014 when they lost 3-0 to Villarreal and were eliminated in the Europa League playoffs of that season.
Last season Astana remained undefeated in three Champions League matches against Galatasaray, Atlético Madrid, and Benfica Lisbon. The travel, especially, makes it difficult for away sides to adjust to playing in Kazakhstan, as Astana’s capital is four hours ahead of the Central European time zone.
While some coaches have responded by introducing various measures when facing the prospect of playing in Kazakhstan, Germany’s national team coach, Joachim Löw, simply chose to ignore the time difference when Germany played in Kazakhstan for European Championship, and World Cup qualifying.
It will be interesting to see whether Bern’s coach, Adi Hütter, takes steps to make it easier for his players to adjust to playing what would be a late night fixture in the Kazakh steppe. As it stands, Astana stands a good chance of picking up at least a point against the Swiss club.
Possible Line-ups
Astana:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Eric – Beysebekov, Anicic, Lobvinenko, Engel – Maksimovic, Canas – Kabananga, Nurgaliyev, Twumasi – Despotovic
Manager: Stanimir Stoilov
Young Boys Bern:
Formation: 4-4-2
Mvogo – Lecjaks, Rochat, von Bergen, Sutter – Sullejmani, Zakaria, Bertone, Ravet – Frey, Kubo
Manager: Adi Hütter
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