While Costa managed to start that final, he hobbled off after only nine minutes. Simeone was forced to use one of his three substitutes to replace him, costing him at least one set of fresh legs in a game that Real Madrid tied in second-half injury time and then won with three goals in extra time.

“Atlético reached that Lisbon final with a very tired team and with some serious injury worries, after a massive fight for the Liga,” said Adelardo Rodríguez Sánchez, who played a record 511 games for Atlético over 17 seasons before retiring. “This season has again been very tough, but the team is reaching the end in good shape.”

On its way to Milan, Atlético knocked out two recent Champions League winners — Barcelona and Bayern Munich. And since losing the Champions League final two years ago, Atlético has had the upper hand on Real, winning five and drawing four of their last 10 games. Atlético’s only defeat in the rivalry was last year, again in the Champions League, when Real Madrid eliminated the team in the quarterfinals.

Under its new coach, Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid is also back in the final after an impressive but late challenge to Barcelona in the league race, with Real losing the title by a single point on the season’s final day. Real’s attacking trident — Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale — is among the sternest tests Simeone’s defense could have drawn; the three players have scored a combined 98 goals.

Futre called the game “a 50-50 final between two teams that really know each other well but could not be much more different in terms of how they play.” Zidane concurred with that assessment, and on Tuesday he smiled as he told a news conference that he was used to coping with pressure ahead of important games.