Brendan Rodgers insists that Celtic has shown that they can compete with Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in a tiebreaker of the Glamor Champions League after not reaching a heroic return against Aston Villa.
Parkhead's team finished the 21st in the format of the New League after an exciting defeat 4-2 in Villa Park, and will discover whether they face the reigning champions or the German giants in the Friday draw.
But Celtic fans could still face a UEFA prohibition of traveling to the second leg in Madrid or Munich after a smoke bomb was released to the field during the game last night.
Rodgers' men seemed to go to another Dortmund style beating when a Morgan Rogers put Villa two two after five minutes.
However, they refused to go to bed, and Adam Idah surprised by Unai Emery by taking out the level of visitors with two goals in two minutes.
Ollie Watkins restored Villa's advantage in the time of La Hora, before the England striker suffered a horror penalty, and Rogers sealed his hat-trick in the detention time to ensure the place of Villa in the first eight that They automatically qualify for the last 16.
Adam Idah's second goal does 2-2 all for Celtic, but they fell short in Villa Park
Idah Irish striker celebrates his double fast fire for Scottish champions against Aston Villa
Brendan Rodgers receives Idah after his first goals for the club since November last year
Rodgers said: 'The word that occurs to me at this time is pride.
'We face a team that has been at the highest level of the Premier League, but we played with a lot of courage in the game.
'We ended up losing. We play an important role in a really good game. We were really competitive at this level.
'Aston Villa has not granted a goal in his games at home through the Champions League.
'We learned from that setback in Dortmund when we were well beaten at night.
'We've gone to Atalanta and kept a clean sheet and we've come here tonight and we were in the game.
'It is Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next round, so it will be a great challenge for us.
“But we are generating confidence at this level and demonstrating that we are a team that can play and can work well and make it difficult for the best teams.”
Idah withdrew the first goal for Celtic just when it seemed to be beaten
Morgan Rodgers was the hero of Villa with an excellent hat-trick, including the third, above
Rogers picks up the game's ball and celebrates reaching the last 16 with the teammate Watkins
Watkins slipped and fell when he tried to convert a penalty for Aston Villa into the second half
While Celtic lost an automatic slot in the last 16, Rodgers believes that a place in the play-offs is a “great reward” for progress in Europe this season.
When asked about Idah, who claimed his first objectives since November 30 in an impressive change in the space of 145 seconds, Rodgers said: 'He did really well. Obviously he got tired because he has not played so much, but those were two great goals for him.
'And how we created the objectives was very good. His movement towards the box has made a couple of races and has had to adapt to finish.
'The second is a great team goal when he was in the painting for the Square E pass and reached the end.
“So he was a handful at night and that will be great for his trust.”
However, there was also a great problem for Celtic, with the problem of pyrotechnics that was hung on them once again.
UEFA is ready to analyze an incident after the first first goal in the 36th minute, when a smoke pump was thrown into the field from the Celta section of the ground where 2,100 fans were housed.
The club was fined at the beginning of the season after fans began pyros during their defeat in Dortmund last October.
England striker's effort was shamefully on the bar, but Villa still prevailed in 4-2 Victoria
Rodgers was satisfied with Celtic's exhibition and feels that they can compete with Madrid or Munich
Rodgers has a hug with Captain from Aston Villa John McGinn after a euro thriller in Birmingham
Celtic was warned that a repetition in two years could lead to a prohibition of a game of traveling fans, and that could still make Celtic not have fans in Madrid or Munich.
The Parkhead Club is now waiting for the report of the UEFA delegate.
Rodgers refused to talk about the problem after the game, saying alone: ”I'm not even thinking about that, I'm just thinking about football.”
Celtic will play the first leg at home on February 11 or 12.
Meanwhile, the left side of Manchester, Tyrell Malia, presents a list of Celtic loan options if they do not get Kieran Tierney from Arsenal before the transfer deadline.
Old Trafford giants are willing to listen to proposals for the Dutch Malia, 25, after finishing an agreement for Patrick Dorgu de Lecce.
Malacia only returned from a serious knee injury in November after an 18 -month spell on the sidelines.