Sixty minutes had passed.
Real Madrid were finally making their first substitution of the match.
Spanish midfielder Isco replaced the Argentine winger Di Maria, who had performed well throughout the match.
Di Maria had fought hard in this match. Aside from the free kick he created at the start, he had seemed rather ordinary at other times, but in reality, he had worked tirelessly, often tracking back to the edge of the penalty area and expending a great deal of energy.
With Di Maria coming off, Real Madrid's formation changed to a 4-3-3.
Casemiro and Modrić stayed deeper, with Isco alone up front.
Simeone watched from the sidelines with a tightly furrowed brow, signaling to his players to keep a close eye on Isco.
After all, in the first Madrid derby of the season, Isco had almost single-handedly torn apart Atletico Madrid's entire defense.
The Spanish midfielder had plenty of flaws and was indeed very troublesome, but when he appeared in a tactical setup suited to him, he could unleash astonishing tactical impact.
Simeone had both suffered at Isco's hands and managed to contain him before, so he understood this very clearly.
Zidane had clearly prepared this move long ago. He obviously hoped to use Isco's dribbling and breakthroughs to disrupt Atletico Madrid's defense, carry the ball forward, create gaps, and give Yang Yang and Suarez opportunities up front.
Would Atletico Madrid make a substitution as well?
Simeone had no such intention. During halftime, he had taken a gamble, replacing Augusto with Carrasco. It had been a highly successful substitution, allowing Atletico Madrid to score twice within five minutes at the start of the second half.
From any angle, it had been a stroke of brilliance from Simeone.
But everything had its pros and cons. The result of making that