Brendan Rodgers says Celtic's performance against Bayern Munich was praised by Neil Lennon and Martin O'Neill.
The Hoops narrowly lost 3-2 on aggregate to the German side on Wednesday night.
The second leg was heading for extra time until Alphonso Davies scored late on.
Despite the defeat, many within the Celtic camp were impressed by the team's display.
Rodgers said that his predecessors, Lennon and O'Neill, were among those who were full of praise.
He said: "Firstly, I've spoken to Martin and Neil Lennon.
"Those are two guys that have got extensive experience of European football at this club.
"They were waxing lyrical about the performance and the result.
"They recognise this is Bayern Munich, that we've come and come into their backyard and run this tie and this game here very, very close.
"So, yeah, I think performance-wise, result-wise, because it feels like a defeat.
"But we've come to here and we've got a very much deserved draw in the game.
"Sadly, it wasn't enough for us."
Rodgers acknowledged the importance of learning from the first game and the goals conceded there.
He said: "I think it can give us nothing but confidence to show that the template I spoke about defensively was very good.
"We limited them to not so many chances.
"We looked dangerous when we had the ball.
"We had some real good opportunities.
"Going forward, we can take confidence from it and look to build the squad in order to be competitive at this level."
Now, the focus shifts back to domestic success.
Celtic sit comfortably at the top of the Premiership and in the Scottish Cup's last eight, facing Hibernian on Saturday.
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