The Celtic defender felt little personal disappointment with the decision.
Lennon axed the summer arrival from the team to face the Romanians back in August, despite Bolingoli playing previous matches and being fit for the tie.
Bringing in midfielder Callum McGregor, who performed poorly out of position, it was a controversial call at the time and provoked serious criticism from supporters.
Subsequently losing 4-3 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate, Lennon’s side were dumped out of UEFA Champions League Qualifying.
The two teams are now just 48 hours away from facing each other again though, this time in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League.
Rather humbly, Bolingoli this week expressed less personal disappointment with Lennon’s decision and more general disappointment for his teammates.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “For me, the real disappointment wasn’t that I wasn’t playing, but that we were knocked out of the Champions League.
“I really wanted us to qualify for that competition.
“It was strange that we scored three goals at home and still lost. That was very hard to take. But it’s over and we have to forget it now.”
Bolingoli’s big chance
It’s very likely that the Belgian will now get the chance to play against Cluj at Celtic Park on Thursday, given he’s the form player in the position right now.
Greg Taylor has yet to be thrown in by the Hoops manager and there’s a lack of real natural options beyond him, unless Lennon turns to Jonny Hayes.
Bolingoli has arguably improved already since those early season weeks and certainly looks more confident on and off the ball.
Like the rest of his teammates, he’ll be dying to beat Cluj, pick up all three points and show everyone that the summer blow was a freak result rather than an indication of their ability.
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