Real Madrid will look to bounce back from a **heavy derby defeat to Atletico Madrid**when they travel to Kazakhstan for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Kairat.
Los Blancos saw off Marseille in their Champions League opener, while Kairat fell to a 4-1 defeat in their matchday one clash against Sporting Lisbon.
Match preview
Kairat Almaty are participating in the Champions League main draw for the first time after successfully negotiating their way through qualifying.
They saw off Olimpija Ljubljana, KuPs and Slovan Bratislava, before they prevailed on penalties in the final round of qualifying against Scottish champions Celtic.
However, the Kazakhstan Premier League champions were given a brutal reality check in their matchday one clash against Sporting Lisbon, which saw Edmilson score a consolation goal in a 4-1 victory.
Rafael Urazbakhtin's side returned to winning ways in their league outing against Zhenis on September 22, and they have not played since that 3-1 victory, ensuring they will be well-rested ahead of their almighty test against Real Madrid.
The matchday two fixture represents just the second Champions League clash between teams from Kazakhstan and Spain since Astana faced Atletico Madrid in the 2015-16 group stage.
Kairat will be hoping to offer stiff resistance against Real Madrid after recording shutouts in each of their four home matches in qualifying.
Kairat Almaty's Yerkin Tapalov on September 18, 2025
Xabi Alonso made an impressive start to his first campaign as Real Madrid boss, seeing his side win their opening seven competitive matches, including a 2-1 victory over Marseille on matchday one of the Champions League league phase.
Los Blancos followed that result with a 2-0 win over Espanyol and a commanding 4-1 victory over Levante, ensuring they carried significant momentum into Saturday's derby clash with Atletico Madrid.
However, just 90 minutes later, Real Madrid were left reeling after slumping to a surprise 5-2 loss against their local rivals, despite establishing a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler.
To rub salt into Real Madrid's wounds, they lost their grip on top spot and are now one point behind their arch-rivals, Barcelona, who clinched a narrow win over Real Sociedad to take full advantage of their Madrid derby result.
Los Blancos will attempt to use the weekend's disappointment as fuel for their maiden encounter with Kairat, with the visitors looking to build upon a record that has seen them win 24 of their last 30 first-time meetings in Champions League/European Cup history (D3, L3).
They will be looking for an improvement on their away form in the 2024-25 Champions League campaign, where they struggled for consistency with three wins and four defeats in seven European away trips.
Kairat Champions League form:
Kairat form (all competitions):
D D W W L W
Real Madrid Champions League form:
Real Madrid form (all competitions):
W W W W W L
Team News
Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal on September 28, 2025
Kairat are without the forward duo of Elder Santana and Joao Paulo, who are sidelined with anterior cruciate ligament injuries, and have been omitted from the squad list for the league phase.
Goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov and midfielder Giorgi Zaria are ruled out through injury, while it remains to be seen whether Alexandr Zarutskiy will be ready for the home clash.
If Zarutskiy is unavailable, 18-year-old goalkeeper Serkhan Kalmurza will retain his place for the visit of the 15-time European champions.
At the opposite end of the pitch, highly-rated prospect Dastan Satpaev is expected to lead the line after finding the net in two of his last three appearances.
Meanwhile, experienced Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal is set to miss around a month of action after sustaining a calf injury in Saturday's home clash with Atletico Madrid.
Like Carvajal, Eder Militao was forced off in the Madrid derby and has not been included in the travelling party for the midweek Champions League fixture.
Alonso is also unable to call upon the services of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rudiger and Ferland Mendy due to injury.
Faced with a defensive injury crisis, Alonso could opt to field the same backline he used for the 4-1 win over Levante on September 23, which saw Raul Asencio and Fran Garcia play as the two full-backs, while Alvaro Carreras operated as a centre-back.
Franco Mastantuono is pushing for a recall to Real Madrid's attacking ranks, which could see Jude Bellingham drop to the bench after making his first start since the Club World Cup at the weekend.
Kairat possible starting lineup:
Kalmurza; Tapalov, Martynovich, Sorokin, Mata; Kassabulat, Arad; Mrynskiy, Jorginho, Gromyko; Satpaev
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Asencio, Huijsen, Carreras, Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni; Mastantuono, Guler, Vinicius, Mbappe
SM words green background
We say: Kairat 0-3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid will be desperate to right the wrongs of Saturday's derby defeat, and while they may be contending with a defensive injury crisis, we think they have far too much quality for their hosts, which will see them cruise to a comfortable victory in Kazakhstan.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
ID:582515:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect9309:No Data Analysis info
Previews by email
Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!