Rodgers rues missed chances after Celtic bombs out
Brendan Rodgers described Celtic's Champions League play-off exit as "bitterly disappointing" and lamented a lack of quality in its penalty shootout defeat to Kairat.
Across the two-legged tie, Celtic failed to break down its opponent, with both legs finishing 0-0, before it lost 3-2 in the shootout.
Daizen Maeda missed a glorious chance to send Celtic into Europe's premier competition 86 minutes in, and that was punished, as Temirlan Anarbekov made three saves to deny Adam Idah, Luke McCowan and Maeda from 12 yards.
Celtic had dominated the second leg at Ortalyq Stadion, having 67 percent of possession, but it had one fewer shot than its host (11 to Kairat's 12) and fewer final-third entries (76 to 83).
The Bhoys did manage five shots on target, but they could not break down the side from Kazakhstan, which has reached the Champions League for the first time in its history.
As such, Celtic will play in the Europa League this season, and Rodgers rued his side's missed chances.
"It's very frustrating," he said. "We showed a glimpse of what we can do at this level, but we haven't been able to show that over the course of these two games.
"It's bitterly disappointing, because we were on the right track last season and working really well and playing really good football, so to not be in there this season is a huge blow for us. We missed a massive opportunity over these two games."
Celtic has also come under scrutiny for its lack of transfer activity, with the club yet to replace Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn.
Rodgers has spoken about his desire for attacking reinforcements, something which could cause more damage with the Old Firm derby against rival Rangers.
The Northern Irishman still has high ambitions, despite his disappointment ahead of the European campaign.
"We all know where we want to get to. We showed last year the strides I felt we took, but you have to build on that," he said.
"The last thing you want to do in football is manufacture your own stress, but all we can do now is look at where we're at as a football club and decide where we want to go.
"I thought overall it was a poor game. The pitch made it awful. We were defensively OK but couldn't quite make the breakthrough.
"We had good chances, especially in the second half and extra-time, and when it goes to penalties, anything can happen.
"We just have to reflect on opportunities that we didn't take, and we have to settle for the Europa League."
Celtic is reportedly closing in on a permanent deal for Michel-Ange Balikwisha from Royal Antwerp, and a loan move for Boca Juniors' Marcelo Saracchi.
