Brondby may lack the quality and cachet of Barcelona but Dylan McGeouch, the Hibernian midfielder, is adamant the same standards which inspired Celtic's famous 2-1 win over the Catalan giants are already being implemented at Easter Road by Neil Lennon.

Having secured a 1-0 lead from their trip to Edinburgh, McGeouch acknowledges that the Danes, a traditional powerhouse of Scandinavian football, were widely expected to cruise in their third qualifying round of the Europa League.

Nothing could have been further from the truth as Hibs made an admirable splash in the land of the Little Mermaid.

A goal by David Gray, a man with a penchant for a notable strike, having scored the winning goal in the Scottish Cup final, secured a triumph on the night and the contest was decided on penalties.

Brondby, ordinary in normal time, were faultless from the spot, scoring all five penalties and ensuring Frederik Ronnow's save from a John McGinn effort was enough to secure a 5-3 win.

Given they ultimately exited the competition, it is a result which is unlikely to live in the broad consciousness of Scottish football quite like Celtic's triumph over Barcelona in 2012 has, nevertheless this was a laudable effort and, on a night where their rivals Hearts exited the same competition in inglorious fashion against a team from Malta, this was a display to be proud of.

Nevertheless, McGeouch insists the purveying sense of disappointment says everything about Lennon's lofty expectations, which every player will be required to meet. “The fact we are disappointed with a 1-0 away win at Brondby, because we haven’t managed to get through, says it all about the standards Neil Lennon sets,” said McGeouch, who played under Lennon at Parkhead.

“I am used to that after working with the gaffer. I remember going away to massive Champions League matches and his expectations never wavered.

“Even against a Barcelona or Juventus, he was always looking for the same standard of performance and telling the boys to target a win. That is what he has brought to Hibs already.

“We will need to rise to those standards over the course of the season. There is no point playing this well in the Europa League then slipping up in the league - and that is not something which will be acceptable to the gaffer either.”

McGeouch added that, after arguably being the better side against the 10-time champions of Denmark, dominating the Scottish Championship should be an achievable goal for Hibs.

“It’s massively disappointing to go out in the end but we can take an awful lot from this game,” he continued. “I don’t think anyone gave us any chance of going to Denmark and winning so we can be really proud of that.

“We are still in pre-season, getting up to pace, so to perform so well away from home against a really good European side is huge for us. We’ve got to keep our heads up and we’ll hopefully go into the start of the season absolutely flying.

“With the new manager coming in, the main objective is to go up. From the start of the season, that is the aim. With that in mind, we’ll take so much - the confidence, fitness and a win over 90 minutes - going into that league campaign.”

John McGinn admits his penalty miss against Brondby was the worst moment of his football career as he paid tribute to the 1000 Hibs fans who serenaded him off the pitch in Copenhagen.

The Scotland international was magnificent against the Danish giants, providing energy and class in the heart of midfield as the capital club claimed an unlikely 1-0 victory.

Cancelling out their defeat at Easter Road, that took the tie to a fraught penalty shootout to decide who would progress to a mouth-watering tie against Hertha Berlin.

As is so often the case, one of the most impressive performers during the 120 minutes faltered from the spot, with goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow stooping to parry his tame effort as Brondby won 5-3.

And McGinn was unable to hide his heartbreak in the aftermath of Hibs’ exit.

He said: “I’m absolutely devastated. After the effort we put in, I’m gutted to be the one who missed the penalty and I feel for all the boys in the dressing room.

“I’ve got to pick myself up and move on but it really is a hard one to take. That is by far the worst moment of my career.

“I am always really confident when I hit my penalties, I wanted to go up first, like I did in the [Scottish Cup] semi-final, but the goalie has spooked me a little bit by moving before I hit the ball and that put me off a wee bit.

‘I want to thank the fans for their support, chanting my name after Brondby scored their winning penalty. They supported me and supported the team all night and it was special from them.”

Indeed, a raucous rendition of ‘Super John McGinn’ was audible immediately after McGinn’s failed spot-kick, with the Scottish Cup-winning hero’s status as a fans’ favourite in no danger.

He continued: ‘It was a nice moment but, honestly, I’d much rather we had gone through and they were singing the name of one of the other boys who had scored a winning penalty.

“The fans represented the club brilliantly, they caused a racket from the warm-up and never stopped singing. They deserved a trip to Berlin and, although the boys can be proud of an incredible performance, I’m devastated we couldn’t get that next tie for them.”