under par, five weekends off. He wasnt about to panic, eit

BARCELONA, Spain -- Four days after affirming its European credentials by toppling Manchester City, Barcelona slumped to a stinging 3-1 loss at Real Sociedad to relinquish the provisional Spanish league lead to Real Madrid on Saturday. Gareth Bale scored a blistering long-range strike to help Madrid brush aside Elche 3-0 at home, and Barcelona was unable to match that with a win. Instead, it was overrun by Sociedads dynamic attack led by forwards Antoine Griezmann and Carlos Vela. Barcelonas defeat confirmed the change in course in the league title race over the past two months, leaving Madrid in command and waiting to see if Atletico can keep up when it visits Osasuna on Sunday. After starting the season with 13 wins and a draw, Barcelona has dropped points in four of its last seven games. Barcelona coach Gerard Martino shuffled his lineup from Tuesdays Champions League victory at City and tried to reinforce his defence by playing with two holding midfielders in Sergio Busquets and Alex Song. The move backfired when Song scored an own goal in the 32nd minute in the first of several defensive lapses that doomed the defending champions. Lionel Messi equalized in the 36th, only for Griezmann to restore the hosts advantage after an error by defender Marc Bartra in the 54th before setting up David Zurutuza in the 59th. The loss left Barcelona three points behind Madrid, the first time it has trailed its fierce rival this season. Atletico is also three points behind Madrid before it plays on Sunday. The last time Barcelona lost by more than one goal was a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in May 2013. Martino took the blame for the humbling defeat. "Real (Sociedad) deserved to win," he said. "I didnt make the correct reading of the game. The decision not to change was also a mistake." Madrid won its third straight game without Cristiano Ronaldo, who was finishing a three-game suspension. Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi opened the scoring at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 34th. Bale then squashed Elches timid second-half surge with a blast from about 25 metres in the 72nd before substitute Isco Alarcon sealed the victory in the 81st. Bale was having a discreet outing until his superb strike that hit the underside of the bar and bounced in, securing the three points that made Madrid the overnight pacesetters. "I said My goodness, what a goal when I saw the ball pass by," Madrid fullback Dani Carvajal said. Madrid will visit Schalke 04 on Wednesday in the Champions League final 16 enjoying an unbeaten streak of 26 games in all competitions. Madrid then plays at crosstown rival Atletico next weekend in a highly anticipated league meeting. Also, Celta Vigo fought back for a 1-1 draw at home against 10-man Getafe to leave the visitors winless in the last 10 rounds, while Malaga drew 0-0 at Almeria. Martino was dismissed by the referee during halftime, and Barcelonas first-year manager had to witness the rare sight of his team being thoroughly dismantled from the Anoeta Stadium stands as the festive home fans soaked up their big win. The victory moved Sociedad one point out of fourth place and Spains last Champions League spot as the Basque side deployed its best version of its up-tempo attack to take a good measure of vengeance for Barcelona eliminating it from the Copa del Rey the previous week. Sociedad was unlucky not to widen the final margin when a disheartened Barcelona appeared to tire in the final minutes. Vela almost capped his outstanding performance in the 81st but his shot hit the post. Sociedad went ahead when Gorka Elustondo muscled by Song to meet Sergio Canales cross, which Elustondo appeared to graze with his head before it hit Song in the chest and landed in the net. Messi combined with Martin Montoya to level when Sergio Busquets craftily let Montoyas pass run between his legs for Messi to rifle it inside the upright of Claudio Bravos goal. Sociedad, however, got the winner when Bartra headed Bravos goalkick back toward his own area, where Vela was quick to pounce and crossed for Griezmann to volley in his 15th league goal of the season. Mohamed Bamba Jersey . Its a blessing and a burden for nine sons of former NHL players who are all expected to be taken in the first four rounds of the draft this weekend. Cheap NBA Jerseys . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. http://www.cheapmagicjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-jerian-grant-jersey . Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse will reunite at this weekends season-opening World Cup at Canada Olympic Park as they begin their buildup to the Winter Games in Sochi. Penny Hardaway Jersey . The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2. Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Julia Mancuso and Tim Jitloff, respectively. Jonathon Simmons Jersey . -- Jacksonvilles offensive makeover is just getting starting.PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Andrew Loupe knows how one week can change everything. He can only hope his 8-under 63 in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is the start of another one. Loupe had to wait three hours to tee off because of rain Thursday, and then he played bogey-free on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula. That gave him the lowest score among those who finished their rounds. Rain soaked the Monterey Peninsula in the morning, which was great news for an area desperate for rain, not so much for the tournament. Puddles quickly formed on the greens at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, forcing play to be stopped on all three courses. Monterey Peninsula played the easiest, and Loupe took advantage. He never had to scramble for par, missed only one fairway and only two of his birdies were over 10 feet. This was his first trip to the area, and it was everything he imagined. "This place is amazing," Loupe said with a smile as wide as a fairway. The 25-year-old from Louisiana hasnt made the cut in five starts his rookie season. Loupe might not even have a PGA Tour card except for his tie for sixth in the last event of the Web.com Tour Finals. He had missed the cut in his previous three "Finals" event. Stuart Appleby, Jim Renner, Richard Lee and Scott Gardiner had 65s at Monterey Peninsula. Phil Mickelson, a four-time champion, was at 5-under par through 15 holes when the round was stopped because of darkness. Pebble Beach played the toughest, though the weather was not nearly bad enough to make that much of a difference with only a cool breeze and no rain the rest of the day. Jimmy Walker, already a two-time winner this season, got up-and-down for birdie on the 18th for a 66, the best score at Pebble. Jordan Spieth, playing with country singer Jake Owen, had the best round at Spyglass Hill at 67. He picked up birdies on all but one of the par 5s, stuffed one close on the uphill second hold and escaped with par with a long pitch from short of the sixth green. "It was more of an effort just to really play safe on the harder holes," Spieth said. "The par 5s you can take advantage of out here. I three-putted the first par 5 for par, but bounced back on the other par 5s. And then I finally made some putts on the back nine. We picked a great day to have Spyglass." Dustin Johnson, a two-time winner of this event, had a 68 at Spyglass Hill playing with his future fatheer-in-law, hockey great Wayne Gretzky.dddddddddddd "More happy with the fact he was 4 under today and its a tough course," Gretzky said. "Im here for fun. Hes here for work." Johnson had to work hard for his birdie on the ninth hole. His approach struck the pin and bounced back some 40 yards off the green. He chipped that in for his third straight birdie, and then picked up another birdie on the par-5 11th. He closed with seven pars for what he believes was his first bogey-free round at Spyglass. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 1-under 70 at Monterey Peninsula. Ottawas Brad Fritsch turned in a 5-over 77 at Spyglass Hill. Graeme McDowell, back at Pebble Beach for the first time since he won the 2010 U.S. Open, opened with a 71 at Spyglass Hill. He has to wait until Saturday to play Pebble Beach with his father, Kenny. Defending champion Brandt Snedeker had a 72 at Spyglass Hill. Loupe kept reminding everyone that his 63 was only one round, though it sounded as if he was reminding himself. He is thrilled to be on the PGA Tour, and it really hit him a few weeks ago at Torrey Pines when some of the biggest stars began showing up. This wasnt the start he imagined, however -- one round out of 11 that was under par, five weekends off. He wasnt about to panic, either. "I really just stick to the plan and I know that my group is good. I have 100 per cent trust in my swing coach, my family, my trainer," he said. "I guess when youre in those ruts, I just kept telling myself, Youre supposed to be here, youre going to play good, just keep playing. This is just one round, guys, but I feel good. "I did miss a few cuts coming into Sawgrass and played good," he said of the week that secured his card in the Web.com finals. "And I just knew that I could do it again. Would I like to play more consistently? Yes. But I just want to keep this rolling." DIVOTS: Davis Love III was 2 over through 15 holes, but at least he had an amateur. Kelly Slater won the Volcom Pipe Pro 2014 on Wednesday at the Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, scoring a perfect 10 on one ride. He arrived at Pebble Beach about 5 a.m. Thursday. ... Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley opened with a 67 at Pebble Beach. ... Jim Furyk, in his first PGA Tour event since September, opened with a 70 at Spyglass Hill. David Duval made his first start of the year and shot 72 at Pebble Beach. ' ' '