Callum McGregor last night admitted Celtic's Champions League exit to Bayern Munich was one of the cruellest moments of his career.
The Celtic captain - clearly emotional after the late suckerpunch - saluted an "outstanding" display from his side as a stoppage-time Alphonso Davies goal saw them eliminated after a brave performance in Munich.
"Probably one of the cruellest to be honest," said McGregor when asked how he reflected on the result.
"The performance of the players gave, they gave absolutely everything and pushed a really good Bayern side all the way right to the end, the death, the last kick of the ball.
"Sometimes football is cruel, you don't always get what you deserve but I'm so proud of the players, the way that they played, the way that they handled themselves.
"We came off the pitch with no regrets.
"The template of the game was perfect for us, they were getting frustrated and set up to try and nick the next one and even if wqe had to go to extra time we still fancied ourselves."
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Celtic had felt aggrieved by a possible foul on Adam Idah before Bayern's late strike but McGregor refused to focus on the flashpoint and allow it to overshadow the efforts of his side.
He said: "We don't really want to use things like that as an excuse.
"The boys gave an unbelievable effort and I want to focus on that because the performance was outstanding.
"To come away from home and play like that...it's a real, real sore one but I think we can be proud of ourselves.
"We have [gained] a lot of belief, confidence, a lot of growth in the boys
"We have to bank that and continue to build on it because I think anyone watching that game will have seen a really good Celtic team."
