Lennon's pride despite defeat
For 27 minutes the SPL champions were in front against the worlds most feted team but on the stroke of half time Andres Iniesta levelled the scores before Alba’s stoppage time heart-breaker.
“You know when you come here you are going to be under concerted pressure and we just needed to see it out,” Lennon admitted.
“While I’m bitterly disappointed for the players I’m immensely proud of them as well, they were brilliant.
“They stuck to what we asked them to do, they didn’t lose their composure when we were under pressure. They conceded ground when they had to but defended brilliantly.
“At times on the counter attack we looked dangerous against the best team in the world. To come here and play as well as that doesn’t surprise me about these players.
“Everyone had written us off but I know the quality and character of the team. We have it all to do in a couple of weeks and we look forward to that.
“The hurt will last a couple of days but I don’t think that I’ll need to pick them up, they were pretty brave tonight under a huge amount of pressure.”
Goalkeeper Fraser Foster pulled off two incredible saves from Fraser Forster justifying Lennon’s belief in the former Newcastle man.
“Fraser is top class, I think that he’s going to go really far in the game,” the Celtic boss added.
“More or less since he arrived he’s been fantastic in every away match. As a group of 14 I can’t speak highly enough of them, they just needed to see it through that was all.”