Guardiola: Barca lacked typical possession

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has put his side’s shock 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad down to their lack of command on the ball and possession.

The reigning champions opened the scoring through youngster Thiago Alcantara’s goal in the first half but uncharacteristically conceded twice after the break, with Diego Ifran and Xabi Prieto goals condemning the Catalans to only their second defeat in the 2010-11 season.

But Guardiola has insisted the Blaugrana will take the defeat in their stride as they look to seal their third straight La Liga title.

“It is an important lesson that we were taught today. We have to play with our heads. We need four points and we must find where we can get them,” he said.

“We are a team capable of winning or losing. We have come from a difficult situation with many players out. We competed well in the second half but we lacked sustained spells of possession. We did not have control of the ball.”

In spite of the defeat, Barca are still poised to take out the league and are well positioned to progress to the Champions League final after taking a healthy 2-0 lead against Real Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final.

“It is the semi-final of the Champions League. It is always better to be winning but we will analyse this defeat. We must now prepare for Tuesday’s game,” he said.

Guardiola, who recently admitted Barcelona was suffering its worst run of injuries since he took the reins from Frank Rijkaard in 2008, said he is confident of seeing his first-team options return in time for the final at Wembley – should they qualify.

“We have a good advantage in this semi-final but we need to ensure that our players recover. It will be a hard game in every way and should we overcome these difficulties, we will have more options when we reach the final.”