Forget the controversy; this is how Koke changed the Madrid derby

People will be talking about the controversies from the Madrid derby.

Jose Mourinho certainly did after Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid.

The Real Madrid coach questioned several refereeing decisions, particularly challenges involving Cristian Romero and Lee Kang in, and there will be plenty of debate about Dean Huijsen's red card as well.

But away from all that noise, there was a fascinating tactical change from Diego Simeone that helped transform the game.

And it happened before Huijsen was sent off.

His name is Koke. He has been there for 26 years.

Atletico were struggling in the first half

The opening 45 minutes had plenty of aggression but very little football.

Atletico struggled to move the ball with enough fluency, while Real Madrid were not creating much either. The hosts did not manage a single shot on target before the break. Much of the game was happening on Atleti's right hand side. Simeone's men were diligent enough not to give away any counter attacks, which is Real Madrid's bread and butter.

Intially Real Madrid tried to press but then they gradually dropped into a proper 4-4-2 mid-block.

Simeone had started with Marcos Llorente in midfield and Marc Pubill on the right.

At half time, he changed it.

Pubill came off, Llorente moved to right back and Koke came into midfield. Pubill was on a yellow card as well.

Suddenly, Atletico looked like a different team.

Koke gave Atletico control

This was not about Koke producing a brilliant assist or scoring a spectacular goal.

He simply gave Atletico something they had been missing.

Control.

Koke constantly made himself available, helped Atletico circulate the ball and gave them the composure to build attacks instead of rushing possession. Real Madrid's lack of pressing allowed him to dictate the game as he stayed as the single pivot and started ticking things for Atleti.

The impact was almost immediate.

Within a little more than two minutes of the restart, Alex Baena and Alejandro Grimaldo had both tested Thibaut Courtois. Atletico's first shot on target came almost immediately after Koke's introduction.

Then came the moment that completely tilted the game.

David Hancko played a long diagonal over the Real Madrid defence, Giuliano Simeone made the run and Dean Huijsen brought him down inside the box.

Penalty. Red card. No arguments over that decision, I reckon.

Of course, there will be plenty of arguments over the two incidents involving Kang in Lee and Cuti Romero in the first half. Lee was really lucky not to receive a red card there.

Also, this one looked pretty straightforward. Huijsen was late, grabbed Giuliano as he was going through and, after a VAR review, the initial yellow card was upgraded to red.

Grimaldo converted the penalty and Atletico were in front.

Six minutes later, Giuliano was involved again. He drove a low cross into the area and Jonathan David finished it to make it 2=0.

Antonio Rudiger pulled one back in the 89th minute, but it was too late. Atletico held on for a 2-1 win.

The red card changed the game, but so did Koke

Of course, playing against 10 men made Atletico's task easier.

Nobody should pretend otherwise.

But it is also too simple to look at the final result and say the game changed only because Huijsen was sent off.

Atletico had already come out for the second half with completely different intent.

Koke's introduction gave them greater control in midfield and ofcourse Guliano Simeone's selfless runs made all the difference too.

The red card was a game-changer.

But Simeone's tactical switch had already started it.

And once again, Koke showed that sometimes you do not need a goal or an assist to completely change a football match. And the bigger talking point is that Real Madrid are missing somoene like Koke in their squad.