UEFA Cup: O'Neill proud of players' achievements

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill insisted his side deserved to be in the fourth round of the Uefa Cup and not Valencia after their dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat.

Henrik Larsson's strike on the stroke of half-time put the teams level on aggregate and they had the chances to beat the Spanish side.

But as Paul Lambert, Alan Thompson, Chris Sutton and John Hartson scored from the spot, Henrik Larsson and Stilian Petrov missed to put pressure on Joos Valgaeren.

The Belgian's spot kick was saved by Santigo Canizares - after it was retaken - and Ferrer Mista stepped up to fire home the winner.

The Celtic boss was still proud of his players and thought they were better than their Spanish counterparts.

O'Neill said: "I thought it was an immense performance by the players and we deserved to go through not just after the 90 minutes but also 120 minutes.

"When it comes to penalties it is obviously a lottery. Cup finals have even been won on penalty kicks, that's the nature of it, but the players were phenomenal.

"We've played against a side that got to the final of the Champions League in the last two years and I thought we were much, much better than them on the night."

O'Neill was delighted to learn Rangers had won on penalties against Paris Saint Germain - but disappointed his side could not join their Glasgow rivals in Europe in the New Year.

He felt both sides had done Scottish football proud.

O'Neill insisted: "I am pleased that we have a Scottish representative in the next round which is great and I thought we could have joined Rangers tonight.

"My players haven't let anybody down and we have improved immensely. I think they have done Scottish football proud just like Rangers did in Paris."

Valencia coach Rafael Benitez praised his side for almost certainly saving his job with their dramatic victory.

Mista scored their decisive sudden death spot kick and he now reckons his side can go on to win the UEFA Cup.

He said: "It was an epic match and it was very difficult for us, but my team kept strong even after missing a penalty - but we can now win the UEFA Cup because we are a strong team and we are better than anyone."