Paris St Germain coach Antoine Kombouare has played down last night's 2-0 UEFA Europa League loss at Athletic Bilbao and urged his team to bounce back in Sunday night's top-of-the-table clash with Lyon. The big-spending capital club headed to Spain on an eight-match unbeaten run, including a 3-1 triumph over Salzburg in their Group F opener, but first-half goals from Igor Gabilondo and Markel Susaeta ensured that streak came to a halt.

"We were absent during the first 20 minutes," Kombouare told www.psg.fr. "There were lots of gaps and we suffered. We showed far too many offensive and defensive deficiencies." PSG's challenge at San Mames all but ended with the 53rd-minute dismissal of Mohamed Sissoko.

Kombouare continued: "Bilbao deserved to open the scoring. The next 20 minutes were fantastic. We created many chances but we did not score. The second goal before the break hurt us. It's the end of our run but it is only one defeat. We must bounce back against Lyon on Sunday."

The teams head into the weekend occupying the top two spots in the Ligue 1 standings with identical records, each on 17 points from eight games.