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Atletico Madrid were pushed to "madness" because of Manchester City's time-wasting tactics, according to Koke, who insisted he was "proud" of his team's performance in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
City progressed to the semi-finals of Europe's elite competition after holding Atletico to a 0-0 draw at Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday night, with Kevin De Bruyne's first-leg strike ultimately earning Pep Guardiola's men a 1-0 aggregate victory.
The contest was overshadowed by ugly scenes in stoppage time, though, with a melee sparked after Phil Foden went down theatrically in response to a rash follow-through challenge from Felipe.
What happened?
Stefan Savic angrily tried to pick Foden up from the floor before being pushed back by Oleksandr Zinchenko, with the former City defender then caught on camera trying to headbutt Raheem Sterling before pulling Jack Grealish's hair.
Felipe was eventually shown a second yellow card for his initial tackle, but video footage showed that tensions between the two teams and staff continued to boil over the tunnel after the final whistle, with Grealish and Savic once again at the centre of the brawl.
What has been said?
Koke defended his team-mates in a post-match interview, insisting they were unfairly provoked by City throughout the 90 minutes.
The Spanish midfielder also claimed that if the shoe was on the other foot, Atletico would have been slammed for using underhand tactics to slow the match down.
"The match takes you to that madness when you see that you have chances and they drop to the ground and waste time," Koke said.
"Many times we are criticised for this situation, but today it was them. Let's see what people think of this. Today it has been seen, we are Atletico de Madrid and I am proud of this team.
"I'm proud of my team-mates for the effort. I have nothing to reproach the team with. I'm proud of everyone and the fans, who have lost, stayed to applaud us after the game. This is Atletico."