Real Sociedad manager David Moyes said he had long dreamed of beating Barcelona, after his current side defeated the Catalans 1-0 in La Liga on Sunday night.

La Real went ahead inside the opening two minutes after blaugrana left-back Jordi Alba headed into his own net following a corner. The home side then defended very well for the rest of the game as Barca again struggled away from home, after more tinkering from coach Luis Enrique had seen South American superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar named as substitutes.

The former Manchester United and Everton boss told his post-match news conference at Anoeta that his players had put in a 'brilliant' defensive performance to gain a deserved three points.

"We have talked about Barcelona when I was at past clubs, we used to watch them, like in the Champions League final, with admiration," said Moyes. "We always said 'my goodness, how would you get a result against Barca'. Tonight I got that opportunity.

"It was great to play against Barca and get such a great result. The players were fantastic against such a good team, did brilliantly well. It was a great result for us, a really strong defensive performance."

David Moyes said he wasn't surprised that Luis Enrique rested Neymar and Lionel Messi at the start of their La Liga match. David Ramos/Getty Images

Luis Enrique had surprised many pundits by leaving both Messi and Neymar on the bench, then bringing on both South American superstars to no avail with his side trailing in the second half. Moyes said he had expected that decision.

"I expected Messi and Neymar to be on the bench," he said. "I have managed a very big club, and the big games for big teams come later in the year. You have to have everybody ready and fresh.

"Their coach made the right decision, he knows his players better than anybody. And he has a really strong squad, those who played tonight are really good players. In his position I would have done the same thing."

La Real have conceded regularly late in recent games, but Barca only really threatened late on, when ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez missed two decent chances. Moyes admitted it had been a long 90 minutes on the home bench.

"I said to [assistant coach] Billy [McKinlay] when they scored (the own goal) that we could do with the ref blowing up. We made one or two opportunities as well. But we knew it would be a long night, they had great ball retention, Xavi [Hernandez] was fantastic, did not give a ball away all night.

Real Sociedad players celebrate after Barcelona's Jordi Alba scored an own goal in their 1-0 loss to La Real. Ander Gillenea/AFP/Getty Images

"They have so many good players, but for me it was a great night, great result, but more importantly for club and the team."

Moyes admitted that the experience of taking on a giant club had been quite similar to his early days at Goodison Park.

"It is quite similar to the early days at Everton," he said. "How to get a result against likes of Arsenal or Liverpool at that time, or Man United? We did not always get results, but we got some, built confidence and got better.

"We hope that will be the same here. It is slightly different in that just over a year ago La Real were in the Champions League, this year the Europa League, and now the job is to get them back there."

The result means La Real have beaten European champions Real Madrid, La Liga holders Atletico Madrid and now Barca at Anoeta, but still sit in the bottom half of the table due to indifferent results against 'lesser' opponents. Moyes accepted his players needed to be more consistent in all outings.

"It is an important three points for us," he said. "Every game we have to try and win three points to move away from the bottom of the league. I hope tonight gives them confidence and self-belief.

"The team have now beaten Real and Atletico and then not gone and shown what they can do in every game. That is the challenge now, a good level of performance, whoever we play. I see good signs that the players are improving."

To move up the table and challenge near the top would require bringing new players to the club, Moyes said, however he was cagey about potential January transfer window targets.

"I would like to be competing against Barca, Atletico, Valencia and Sevilla at the top of the league," he said. "To do that we will have to make the squad stronger. I hope it is in January, but if not then, in the summer. I have an idea of what I would like, but in January you might not get what you want. You have to be flexible. I will more than likely only go into the loan market, not just British. But I do feel if we could boost the squad that would help everybody."