Ange Postecoglou felt his Celtic side were beaten by more clinical opponents after falling to a 3-1 home defeat against Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt.
Goals early in each half from Runar Espejord and Amahl Pellegrino put the visitors in command and Celtic conceded two minutes after Daizen Maeda had headed a 79th-minute lifeline.
Hugo Vetlesen’s deflected effort gives Celtic a mountain to climb when they head to the Arctic Circle for the second leg of the Europa Conference League knockout-round play-off next week.
Postecoglou said: “We weren’t clinical and they were – they had two chances second half, one was a deflection.
“We lacked composure in the front third. Obviously goals change the perspective for everyone – they were able to get their goals and we didn’t.
“I thought we were in control in the second half then they got their goal on counter. I always know that’s a possibility.
“They got a deflection and things didn’t work but in the overall context they were more clinical than us in important areas. They were super-efficient in the front third.”
The Norwegian champions only conceded five goals in the group stages and Celtic face a difficult task in the Arctic Circle next week.
Postecoglou said: “It’s only half-time so there’s another game to go and we’ll go and play our football and see what we do.
“We’ve just got to go there and play our football again. We’ve scored goals away in tough places so it’s a good challenge for us.”
Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen, whose team’s last competitive game was on December 12, praised his players.
“It was a really good performance,” he said. “You have to remember we are still in pre-season.
“The atmosphere in the stadium was amazing so it was a great experience for all of us.
“It was a hard game because against this team you have to be smart with your defending. If you give Celtic space you are in big trouble. We closed off the space inside.
“I felt we controlled most of the game really well.
“We were a little bit lucky with the third goal. We were really tired in the last 15 minutes.”
