CELTIC manager Neil Lennon was loud in his praise of his players who defended heroically in the face of a relentless Barcelona onslaught at the Camp Nou before being cruelly beaten by an injury-time winner from defender Jordi Alba. The Glaswegians went down 2-1 after Javier Mascherano’s own goal for Celtic was cancelled out by Andres Iniesta.

“They were brave and stuck with what I asked them to do. They defended brilliantly and at times we looked dangerous on the counter-attack,” said Lennon.

“Everybody had written us off but I knew of the quality of the character in the team.

“I look forward to doing it again in a couple of weeks.

(Goalkeeper Fraser) Forster was quality – top class. I think he’ll go far in the game. We just needed to see it through.”

Manchester United goal hero Javier Hernandez was relieved after his double helped his side come from 2-0 down to beat Braga 3-2 in their Group H match at Old Trafford.

United trailed 2-0 inside 20 minutes but Hernandez pulled one five minutes later and grabbed a second-half winner after defender Jonny Evans had equalised.

Asked for his thoughts after another dismal start – the eighth time this season United have fallen behind, Hernandez joked: “I was thinking ‘Oh, we just need to score three more goals and then we get the three points’!

“We started a little bit badly but thankfully we scored three and we will look forward to the next game.”

He added: “I’ve learnt a lot here and when I get the chance I need to do my best.”

Hernandez had another goal disallowed for an offside against midfielder Shinji Kagawa in the build-up.

And he said: “It wasn’t offside but it’s not important, all that matters is the three points.”

Despite United having to again come from behind, manager Alex Ferguson defended his decision to field a lightweight-looking defence including England midfielder Michael Carrick.

Rio Ferdinand was left on the bench but Ferguson said:

“I think we did the right thing. It wasn’t Michael Carrick’s fault, the first goal, he did his job well.

“I think you’ve got to look at the big picture – Rio, his age, with a big game against Chelsea coming up, Chelsea (in the League Cup) on Wednesday then Arsenal.

“We’ve got Vida (Nemanja Vidic) out, (Phil) Jones and (Chris) Smalling not available – Carrick’s not the best there but he does his job well.”

Ferguson added: “It’s been the story of our season at home, starting badly and conceding goals, but we’ve rescued games.

“It’s the front players who are doing that for us, some of our football tonight was terrific, but it is a worry we’re losing those goals.”

He admitted Hernandez’s headed double had given him a tough decision to make on the nature of his frontline in the future.

“He trains magnificently, he’s improving all the time and he’s got me thinking,” he said.

“With him, (Robin) van Persie, (Wayne) Rooney, (Danny) Welbeck . . . I don’t know what you do with them, to be honest.”

Chelsea defender David Luiz could not hide his shock at his side’s performance as they went down 2-1 to Shakhtar Donetsk in their Group E encounter.

Alex Teixeira and Fernandinho gave Shakhtar a 2-0 lead and although Oscar pulled one back with two minutes to go, the defending champions could not force the equaliser.

It means Shakhtar have deservedly taken charge of the group in the first of what could be a crucial double-header.

Luiz was at a loss to explain Chelsea’s display last night and told Sky Sports 4: “I don’t know. They don’t give you the opportunity to win the game.

“We did not play well – I am shocked by the performance.

“Congratulations to Shakhtar. Maybe now we think just of the next game.”