Kairat’s game against Real Madrid will be the just the second fixture played between sides from Kazakhstan and Spain in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, after Astana’s meetings with Atlético Madrid in the 2015-16 group stage (lost 0-4 away in Madrid, drew 0-0 at home).

Real Madrid have only lost three of the last 30 instances when facing a team for the first time in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (W24 D3), suffering defeats against Lille in 2024 (0-1), Sheriff Tiraspol in 2021 (1-2) and Wolfsburg in 2016 (0-2).

This will be just Kairat’s fourth home match in major European competition, while they are still looking for their first victory (previously D1 L2 in the UEFA Conference League in 2021-22).

Real Madrid have beaten 111 different opponents in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, more than any other team. The only teams they have faced across the two competitions and not managed to win – of the 114 that they have played against overall – are Arsenal (4 times), AEK Athens (2) and Lille (1).

Real Madrid have lost both of their last two away games in the UEFA Champions League (0-1 v Atlético Madrid and 0-3 v Arsenal), while they haven’t lost three in a row since March/May 2001 (v Anderlecht, Galatasaray and Bayern Munich).

In their seven away matches in the UEFA Champions League last season, Real Madrid failed to score (4) on more occasions than they did find the net (3). Indeed, this was the most away matches the Spanish side have failed to score in during a single European Cup/UEFA Champions League campaign (4).

Kairat had 30 fewer touches in the opposition penalty area than their opponents on MD1 (12 for, 42 against in their 1-4 defeat v Sporting CP), while Real Madrid were the team who had the most in any match in the opening round of this season’s UEFA Champions League (51 v Marseille).

In their 2-1 win over Marseille on MD1, Real Madrid’s start distance – the average distance from their own goal that a team initiates their open-play sequences – was 53.4 metres. This was the highest up the pitch in a single UEFA Champions League game for them since October 2020 versus Shakhtar Donetesk (57.2).

Kylian Mbappé has scored seven goals in eight UEFA Champions League appearances for Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, averaging one every 96 minutes played. However, he’s netted just two goals in seven outings away from home, averaging one every 274 minutes on the road.

Against Marseille last time out in the UEFA Champions League, Aurélien Tchouaméni completed the most passes of any Real Madrid player (51) and made the joint most line-breaking passes (14, level with Dean Huijsen). Meanwhile, his five interceptions were as many as every other Real Madrid player in the game combined (5).