Celtic boss Neil Lennon praised his players after seeing them come within seconds of grabbing a Champions League point at the Camp Nou.
Only Jordi Alba’s stoppage time winner prevented the Scottish Premier League outfit from returning to Parkhead with an unlikely result under their belts, and Lennon was fulsome in his admiration for the effort his team had put in.
“I thought we were magnificent. It’s bittersweet really and hard to take losing the game this way, but I think my players gave the club and country a huge boost.
“There’s a mixture of disappointment and anger that we didn't see things through to the end but I’m so proud of them. They are hurt and angry, whatever you’d like to call it.
“However, it’s given them a real taste of playing Champions League football at the highest level and they did fantastically well because nobody gave us a hope, so I think we’ve won a lot of admirers.
“They were brave and I couldn’t have asked for more, maybe just 30 seconds to see it through. It would have been fantastic to have got something here because we didn’t expect anything.
“I hope we take plenty from it as it’s tough to perform at this level, but there are no recriminations or criticism. I think we leave with our reputation intact,” he concluded.
