Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta said tactical mistakes were to blame after his side wasted a lead and lost 2-1 to Real Madrid in Saturday evening's Clasico at the Camp Nou.
Barca dominated possession for long periods of the first half and then seemed set for another three points when Gerard Pique headed them in front from a corner near the hour mark.
But Madrid stuck in the game and turned the game around with counter-attack goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, holding on for the victory even when Blancos captain Sergio Ramos was red carded.
Asked in the Camp Nou mixed zone if his team had suffered from tiredness after the recent international break, the Blaugrana skipper responded that the problem had been more to do with his team allowing themselves to be caught on the break when they should have been positioned better on the pitch.
"I don't believe [the defeat] was due to physical issues," Iniesta said. "It is a conjunction of things. At 1-0 we lacked more control and positioning. We were caught many times on the break, and these actions are very dangerous.
"It is not really a physical issue, more about our positioning and inability to read the game at 1-0 or 1-1. This is part of football, mistakes happen. It is a defeat and we must move on, there's no other option."
With seven games to play, Luis Enrique side are now just six points ahead of second placed Atletico, with Madrid a further point back in third. Iniesta pointed out that the position was still not so bad, and said minds must quickly shift to Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg at home to Atletico Madrid.
"We are still in a privileged position," he said. "If we had won it would have been much clearer. It hurts us to lose, but we must think analyse things and think about Tuesday, when there is another competition."
Iniesta accepted it was a pity that an emotional night at the Camp Nou had not ended with a more fitting tribute for former Barca player, coach and spiritual leader Johan Cruyff, who was honoured before the game.
"More than winning or losing, there are situations which are much more important," he said. "We had all thought about that, and it is a pity it was not able to end with a victory."
Pique also spoke after the game and said Barca's aim now should be to avoid letting their first defeat in 40 outings start a bad run that could imperil their chances in all competitions.
"We must move on," he said. "Tuesday is very important and we still have La Liga very well under control, so we must be relaxed. There was a lot of motivation to win, even more in a Clasico.
"We cannot always win though, and we must accept this defeat. Sometimes you lose and you must know how to deal with it. There are two months of competition still to play, we should not fall into a dip because we have a unique position and we must keep going."
Pique followed his coach Luis Enrique in not blaming Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez, just 33 and in his first Clasico, for not sending off his Spain teammate Ramos earlier in the game.
"The referee tries to whistle as well as he can," Pique said. "I believe he had a good game, did good work. We did not know how to play with an extra man. After Sergio was sent off, we had five minutes when we did not control the game, maybe for the effort we had put in.
"It was then 2-1, we both had chances and we could have equalised. But they scored and they deserved to win."