Ronny Deila is proud of his Celtic side for their performance against Inter this evening, despite them slipping to a 1-0 defeat, which sends them out of the Europa League.
Celtic started brightly at the San Siro, giving as good as they got with Inter, while when the Italians did have chances, goalkeeper Craig Gordon proved equal to the challenge.
The Bhoys though suffered a huge blow in the 37th minute when Virgil van Dijk was sent off for a second bookable offence, reducing the Scottish giants to ten men and instantly put them on the back foot.
Inter dominated possession, as expected, in the second period, but could find no way through the Celtic defence.
However, as the Bhoys pushed forward the picture changed, with Fredy Guarin hitting a superb strike with just two minutes left, giving Gordon no chance.
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Celtic had no answer and slipped out of the Europa League 4-3 on aggregate with a 1-0 defeat on the night.
Deila is disappointed and says he is very proud of his players for their performance, believing they have proved they belong on the biggest stages.
"I think it's a very disappointed gang of players in the dressing room. I feel very sorry for them, but I'm very proud of them", he told a press conference.
"We made a good performance for 90 minutes. When it was eleven vs eleven we controlled the game and we got more into it, so it's tough.
"It just has to give us more motivation now to get back on this stage. I think we showed now we have something to do here."
And Deila feels his side missed a good chance to reach the last 16 in the Europa League.
"I think it was a very good chance to get through today.
"Before the sending off also we saw we have something to do on this level. I'm very proud of the boys and I feel very sorry for them."
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