Thaindian News

Madrid, Sep 11 (IANS) Barcelona FC coach Pep Guardiola wants his side to learn from the mistakes that saw them drop two points away to Real Sociedad Saturday night.

Barcelona had been leading 2-0 in the Anoeta Stadium, thanks to early goals from Xavi Hernandez and Cesc Fabrigas, but two defensive lapses mid way through the second half saw Real Sociedad draw level.

“We played well in the first half, but only until we scored the second goal. We have to have high levels of attention and it should serve us as a lesson for the future,” said Guardiola in El Mundo Deportivo Sunday.

The Barcelona coach preferred not to blame the setback on having had players away on international duty. He had started the game with Leonel Messi and Javier Mascherano on the subs’ bench after they had returned from India, where they had been with Argentina.

“If we have drawn, it is because we didn’t do things well, we know that everything is hard in this. There are good teams here and sport is never easy. We have to bear that in mind,” said Guardiola, who explained why he rested players such as Messi and Andres Iniesta.

“I took that decision a long time before. All of my players worked hard and they played well. We did some things badly, but overall we played well.”

The coach, however, lamented the muscle injury suffered by recent signing Alexis Sanchez, who will be out of action for between six and eight weeks.

“Alexis is vital for us, because he helps us find space, it was a hard tackle and the good news is that his knee isn’t injured, but we will lose him for a long time,” he said.