Athletic Bilbao boss Marcelo Bielsa said his team’s second-half performance was the main reason for their 2-0 defeat to Real Sociedad.
An Antoine Griezmann goal just after the hour mark and Carlos Vela’s penalty 10 minutes later ensured a third defeat in six games for Bielsa’s men, who insisted it was also a setback after the improvement in recent weeks.
“This loss has set us back and in the second half we did not turn up and the way we are playing it is difficult for us to set up attacks, which is the way to go about scoring goals.
“Obviously we didn’t sustain the domination we had in the opening 45 minutes and without the ball we were poor.
“Today was a good opportunity for us but we threw it away, particularly after the break, but there are matches in which the Coach feels more responsible than in others.
“There were seven or eight minutes in where we lost control of the game and the responsibility you feel is sometimes more. but you must always be there to help the players.
“Even so, in the second half there was only one team in it. That was Real,” he added.