Brendan Rodgers believes Celtic have "restored their credibility" in European football’s top competition.
Celtic put in a “real heroic” display during their UEFA Champions League knockout stage play-off second leg against Bayern Munich. Yet, they crashed out the tournament as a result of a last-gasp goal from Bayern substitute Alphonso Davies.
Rodgers’ side were on the cusp of pushing Bayern to extra-time as the clock struck 94 minutes thanks to Nicolas Kuhn’s strike just after the hour mark levelled the aggregate scoreline to 2-2.
But in the cruellest blow, they were hit with a late sickener, with the ball dropping in front of Davies from Kasper Schmeichel's initial save to tap into an empty net during the final action of what was a thrilling encounter.
Rodgers couldn't have asked for much more from his players, and very few would've argued if Celtic had taken Bayern to another 30 minutes.
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That's how the Celtic manager can assess the sheer progression his men have made since a previous trip to Germany ended with a 7-1 Champions League hammering from Borussia Dortmund last October.
“It was [a suckerpunch], not what the players deserved especially right at the very end," Rodgers told Amazon Prime Sport as he reflected on Celtic's heartbreaking elimination.
“They gave so much to the game, they played with confidence.
“We didn’t give away too much, I felt our concentration was good and denied them space, and then we had quality and some great moves, and actually had the best chances in the game I felt.
“A real heroic performance, just unfortunate at the end.
"We wanted to start the game fast. It was important that we didn't give away much. We had aggression and control in our game with the ball and without the ball. We got into some great positions.
"We always felt that we were going to be there in the game, it was just about transferring that confidence into our play. It was just such a cruel way to not even lose the game but to go out of the competition.
“I think our European credibility has been restored this season, I think we’d built that up from last year, that’s my takeaway from this season. I think we have shown real quality at times, if you think of the last time we were in Germany and the improvements we have made now."
He said: "I think we need to improve the squad again. At this level you need to be able to bring quality off the bench as well and have that freshness. That's the next step for us.
"But I think this season has been so good. We have played some amazing football, we've had adverse moments but recovered.
"My objective is to make us a seasoned team at this level that you can consolidate.
"I came back here to make progress in Europe and if I judge that myself on tonight then they have gave me everything. Now our job is to learn from that, learn from the experiences we've had this season, and finish off our season really well. We need to get back into the Champions League next season and let's see if we can improve again."
