After a night's rest, and now that the alcohol was worn off, I've had a chance to think about the match.
Two parts of the match will stick with me:
1. Simeone's decision to play Costa. At some point this year, there was an article about Cholo--or maybe it was in his book--that mentioned Cholo reads a player's horoscope before deciding to sign that player to ensure the player fits the team's philosophy and mentality. In other words, he's superstitious (I suppose like many South Americans). Whether it was superstition (of course a Bulgarian fake doctor with horse placenta is a good idea!) or stubbornness, it is a decision that will haunt him and this game for a long time. Atletico needed an extra set of fresh legs, badly. Cholo's choice greatly hurt the team's chances to win.
2. Bad luck. The team needed Arda Turan, who did not recover from his lingering hip injury, for his ability to create chances and hang onto the ball. Turan was sorely missed. In addition, Cholo had to put in a defensive substitution for Filipe Luis rather than putting someone like Diego Ribas or Cebolla or Mario Suarez to stabilize the midfield. These two injuries, even though the team almost won the game, forced Atletico into a bad position, as evidenced by the thrashing in the second extra time.