HISTORIC day for the debutant Kazakh team, which hosts the Blancos in Almaty in its first home match in the Champions League. Tickets skyrocketed, crowds of fans at the airport and unprecedented media coverage. Meanwhile, Mbappé and his teammates flew 10 hours to cover 6,500 km in the competition's most easterly trip.
Exorbitantly priced tickets, crowds of fans at the airport and media coverage that is not even reserved for heads of state. The whole of Kazakhstan went crazy for the Champions League match between Almaty's Kairat and Real Madrid. Almaty, the most important city and ancient capital of the immense Eurasian desert country (until 1997, when it was supplanted by Astana), is located a few dozen kilometres from the Chinese border. So distant that a 10-hour flight from Madrid is required to cover the 6,500 kilometres distance. To understand how far apart the two cities are, one need only think that 'only' 5,500 kilometres divide London from New York. This is the most easterly trip in the Champions League. It has been all the talk in the country for weeks, after the draw that had reserved illustrious opponents for the Kazakh debutants was greeted by the jubilation of the players in a video that immediately went viral on social networks. The full squad of the Kazakhstan team - it has been calculated - is worth 12 million, as much as a Real reserve team, and the total revenue of the Almaty club is one hundred and twentieth of that of the Madrid battleship.
A month's salary for Real
Welcoming the Blancos on arrival at the airport were hundreds of people: young people, families with children. With a past linked to the Soviet experience and with a strong Russian influence, there has always been a desire in the country to feel more independent than in its recent past, to be halfway between two worlds now in conflict. And with an eye on the ancient traditions of the Asian steppe: the citizens call themselves the direct descendants of Genghis Khan. A dream that is coming true thanks to the immense gas deposits underground. The match is scheduled in the small Ortalyq stadium, 23,000 capacity. But the demand until Sunday was more than 250 thousand people who had put themselves on hold on the various booking sites. The echo has also reached China: many fans will in fact come from the neighbouring country, as no visa is required at the border. Ticket prices have risen in these hours to 250 thousand tegent, just under 400 Euro. The average salary in the country is just over 600 euros. The whole of Kazakhstan is experiencing the match as a showcase to foreign countries. Kairat goalkeeper Sherkhan Kalmurza made this clear in an interview with the local newspaper Qsport: 'It is a great responsibility to play not only for the club. The whole country will be watching the match, we can even say that the whole nation will be cheering for us. Despite the status of the opponent, we have to show our game and prove that there is great talent and top-level football in Kazakhstan."