Jeremy Mathieu "surprised to play left-back"

Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu has admitted that he was "surprised to play left-back" in Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid.

The Frenchman, who joined Barca from Valencia in the summer, has mainly been deployed as a centre-back this season, but started on the left side of defence in El Clasico.

"I was surprised to play left-back, but the coach decides," Mathieu told a French radio station.

"I thought we did well in the match but we were exposed to the counter-attack, which is Madrid's great strength.

"And it's true, the second goal really hurt us. Even though we have big players like [Gerard] Pique, Sergio Busquets or myself, we still have problems with set pieces. We have to work harder."

Prior to Saturday's match, Barcelona had not conceded in the league this season.