Barcelona, Spain (My Sportsbook) - Midfielder Andres Iniesta thinks Barcelona "didn't deserve to lose" Tuesday in the Champions League to Russian club Rubin but insisted the loss "will make us stronger."

Barca coach Pep Guardiola had trouble criticizing his club, which lost for the first time since March, adding "we played well, but we lost."

"Football is special like that, in any sport we would have won the game with stats like ours tonight," Guardiola continued.

Barca suffered the shocking loss in the third round of the group stage, giving up an early goal at the Camp Nou and a late winner in a 2-1 loss. Barcelona is still first in Group F, but all four teams are separated by just one point.

"It's all got very tight now," Guardiola said. "This is a tough group, all four teams are national champions. We now have to go and get a good result in Russia."

Barcelona will visit Rubin on Nov. 4, but first it has to switch focus back to La Liga and maintaining its slim lead. Barca hosts Real Zaragoza on Sunday at the Camp Nou.

Barca dominated Rubin on everything but the scoreboard, controlling possession for nearly 75 percent of the game and outshooting the visitors 24-3. Rubin put two of its three shots in the net, though.

"We didn't think we could win," Rubin coach Kurban Berdyev told AS. "We tried to commit ourselves to playing well and hoped to make a good counterattack and, thank God, that has been the case."

Barcelona also suffered another loss in the match when fullback Dani Alves was injured. He picked up a knee problem and will likely miss three weeks.

Guardiola's men will miss the Brazilian's flare on the right, both offensively and defensively, but are glad he's only shelved for a short time.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is tied with Lionel Messi for the team lead in La Liga with five goals, scored his first in the Champions League for his new side in the loss to Rubin.

Ibrahimovic and Messi will continue to team up in the front, but Thierry Henry remains out of the lineup with a knee injury.

Barca cruised through the first six weeks of La Liga play but the defending La Liga and Champions League winners are now winless in two. Barca tied Valencia, 0-0, last weekend in league play.

Barcelona still leads Real Madrid by one point in the standings, and with 17 goals scored and just three allowed, have been dominant. Captain Carles Puyol, who agreed to a three-year contract extension Friday, has led the defense.

Guardiola's side could soon get a few players back, as Gaby Milito and Dmytro Chygrynskiy trained this week, although their status for this week is unknown.

Barca, which had a 34-game unbeaten ended by Rubin, will look to start another streak this weekend.

"Now we have to lift our heads," Guardiola said, "and continue working."

On Saturday, Real Madrid will try to bounce back from a home loss to AC Milan in the Champions League when it visits Sporting Gijon, Sevilla hopes to build on its third straight Champions League win - 3-1 over Stuttgart - at Espanyol, and Atletico Madrid will try to bounce back from a 4-0 loss to Chelsea on the Champions League when it hosts Mallorca.

Also Sunday, Villarreal - which lost in the Europa League to Lazio on Thursday - looks for its first league win when it hosts Malaga, Almeria hosts Valencia, Racing hosts Osasuna, Tenerife hosts Xerez, Getafe hosts Athletic Bilbao, and Valladolid hosts Deportivo.