Ronny Deila: Celtic's match with Inter was "unbelievable"

John Guidetti watches his first goal since November hit the top corner

Celtic manager Ronny Deila revealed his previous experiences in football were "nothing near" to the 3-3 Europa League draw with Inter Milan.

John Guidetti's equaliser in added-time means Celtic go to the San Siro for the second leg on level terms.

"It was an unbelievable football match with an unbelievable atmosphere," said Deila.

"We have talked about being brave and I'm very proud because we caused them problems and got a result in the end."

And he added: "We wanted to have a better result and we could have if we had not given them a little bit too easy goals."

Xherdan Shaqiri and Rodrigo Palacio capitalised on weak goalkeeping and defensive frailties to fire Inter 2-0 up after 13 minutes

Recent signing Stuart Armstrong converted Adam Matthews' cross and then pressured Hugo Campagnaro into conceding an own goal to restore parity.

But a glaring error by Celtic 'keeper Craig Gordon allowed Roberto Mancini's men to take a 3-2 half-time lead - Palacio pounced to stroke the ball into an empty net after Gordon dropped a straightforward long ball.

Guidetti's terrific volley in injury-time helped erase the memory of that mistake, and Deila refused to blame the Scotland goalkeeper either, instead focusing on his heroic saves in previous games.

Craig Gordon's error allowed Rodrigo Palacio to put Inter 3-2 ahead

"We would not be here if it was not for him and we would have had Thursdays off," he said.

"He was unlucky today but the fans called his name after he conceded the last goal. That's team spirit and I really, really appreciate that. It helps everybody; we get back into the game and that's a lot to do with the fans."

Gordon was "disappointed" about his crucial fumble but remained pragmatic.

"It's not a nice thing to give away a goal like that but it happens to every goalkeeper at some point and unfortunately it was me tonight," he said.

"The only thing I can do is try to get back to doing what I do best. I responded to it well and went out and made sure that was the last goal we conceded."

Deila felt new additions Armstrong and Gary Mackay Steven "added a lot to the team" and praised Guidetti for his recent "good focus" in training.

The Norwegian, who is in his first season in charge at Celtic, holds hope for an aggregate victory when he takes his side to Milan for the return leg on 26 February.

"It's going to be very tough," said Deila. "We have to be a bit lucky and we have to put together the best performance so far under my command. But it's possible and we're looking forward to the game.

Ronny Deila said the atmosphere was like nothing else he had ever experienced

"I believe we can score in the San Siro. The most important thing is that we can't concede as many as we did today. We have a good chance of scoring but defensively we need to be much better.

"I was very happy that the fans were happy after the game. I think that's because they saw that we fought for 90 minutes and attacked them."

Mancini admitted his team might have got complacent after going two goals up so early on, and he also had praise for Guidetti, a player he worked with while in charge of Manchester City.

"I know this game is 95 minutes and in one minute the result can change, so I'm not surprised by this, we also know Celtic is a good team," the Italian said.

"In the end it is a good result. Maybe we can start the next game with a slight advantage but we need to play a good game.

"I like John (Guidetti), he is a fantastic guy with a strong character. In the end I'm happy because John scored this goal."