Kairat's acting head coach Zhora Arutyunyan has said his team is aiming for victory in the Conference League match against Italy's Atalanta. The third-round match of the league phase will take place on November 5 in Bergamo. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

According to Arutyunyan, all Kairat players are ready for the game and in good spirits. The coach also placed Atalanta on par with opponents of Champions League caliber.

"It is very exciting to be here. All the guys are healthy, in the squad, everyone is in a good mood – tomorrow the players will give 100%. A year ago no one could have imagined it would turn out like this. Atalanta is a Champions League-level club. From the matches we have analyzed, this team is no worse than Inter, against whom we had a good game last year," ASnews.kz quoted Arutyunyan as saying.

Exactly a year ago, on November 5, 2025, Kairat faced Inter in Italy in the Champions League league phase. The Almaty side lost 1-2 at San Siro. Now the Kazakh club will play in Bergamo against the 2024 Europa League winner.

Arutyunyan noted that the team analyzed Atalanta's game under Maurizio Sarri and does not intend to radically change its system after the change of head coach.

"I have no nerves. We are preparing for the opponent just as before. Maurizio Sarri has a certain style, we will try to counter it tomorrow. As for changes: we had three training sessions before Altai and three before Atalanta. Nothing needed to be radically changed, since the club has built a vertical structure and the team more or less plays in one system. In terms of counter-pressing, we just want to add our own vision."

Ahead of the meeting with Kairat, the Italian specialist called the upcoming match difficult and recalled the Almaty side's games against European top clubs last year.

Arutyunyan named Kairat's first European cup victory as the main goal.

"We move from game to game and understand the level of all opponents. We talked with the guys about wanting to achieve a historic victory in European competitions for Kazakhstan, and we will try to do it. We don't know yet exactly how it will work out, but there is a certain plan."

After two rounds of the Conference League league phase, Kairat has one point. The Almaty side drew with Riga – 1-1, and then suffered a heavy home defeat to Panathinaikos – 1-5. Atalanta started with a 3-1 win over Pafos, then lost to Ajax – 0-2.

Arutyunyan also separately noted the contribution of former Kairat head coach Rafael Urazbakhtin.

"Everyone sees and will long remember the contribution of Rafael Radikovich Urazbakhtin: two championships, the Champions League, the Conference League. He is the only such coach in our country, and we must look up to him. Before the game with Altai, he gave advice and wished us luck."

Kairat's first match under Arutyunyan ended in a 1-1 draw with Altai, and the team finished second in the KPL-2026.

The Atalanta – Kairat match will take place on November 5 in Bergamo and will start at 22:45 Astana time.