Lennon: ‘Brown didn’t deserve Barca red’

The Hoops captain was red-carded in the 58th minute after flicking a leg out at Neymar following a foul on the Brazilian, before Cesc Fabregas scored the winner for the visitors.

Scott Brown is red carded for his kick at Neymar. Picture: Robert Perry

Brown apologised to the players in the dressing room afterwards but was robustly defended by his boss in the post-match press conference and again, when the Northern Irishman spoke to Celtic TV.

Lennon said: “Looking at the incident again, I stand by what I said. Contact is minimal, if there is any at all.

“People might call it petulance but is it a sending off? No.

“The tackle by (Sergio) Busquets on (Beram) Kayal that warranted a red card for me and Emilio Izaguirre on (Dani) Alves.

“There were far more physical and worse challenges in the game than Scott’s and I feel aggrieved.

“I am getting criticised for that now and that’s fine. It’s my opinion, he’s my captain.

“He has come out and apologised for it which I don’t think he needed to do but maybe he felt compelled to do that for the supporters.

“But I am disappointed with the reaction of Neymar.”

Lennon confirmed he would not be appealing the sending-off.

The former Celtic skipper said: “I would have if the ban had been more severe.

“But at the minute we are looking at a one-game ban, so we don’t want to make things any worse.”