Gerardo Martino: 'Blame me for Barcelona defeat'

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino has admitted that a number of tactical errors led to Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Real Sociedad.

Alex Song gifted La Real the lead with an own goal on 32 minutes before Lionel Messi equalised shortly after.

However, the hosts struck again before hour mark through Antoine Griezmann and David Zurutuza, and Martino says that the result can be traced back to his failure to freshen things up at half time.

"I didn't prepare us for the game well enough, Real were the better team. Now we have to get up, we have a week to prepare the next game," the 51-year-old told reporters.

"It was probably a mistake not to make changes when the score was at 1-1. Introducing Xavi wouldn't have made any sense, as [Cesc] Fabregas and Alexis [Sanchez] were already present."

The Catalans, who were involved in a three-way tie in the Primera Division standings prior to the gameweek, could slip to third in the table if Atletico Madrid avoid defeat over Osasuna later today.