The 2005–06 season was the 82nd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 47th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 29 August 2005 and finished on 14 May 2006.
Kits
Overview Second season in a row for the administration of Demis Nikolaidis and for Fernando Santos on the team's bench. The plan was the same as that of the previous season, the tight budget and step by step for the team to finish as high as possible. However, in relation to the previous year, the enthusiasm and above all the same-mindedness was lacking. A huge role for the lack of unity was played by the events of the first match, in the away match against Atromitos, where, after incidents, Nikolaidis turned against with some of the ultras of AEK and since then nothing has interfered in the same way in the relations between Demis and a portion of the fans. In the summer transfer window, AEK made some useful additions, mainly those of the two Italians, Bruno Cirillo and Stefano Sorrentino, but also of the Ukrainian Oleh Venhlinskyi.
The team, with Nikos Liberopoulos and Kostas Katsouranis as their main players, even though they went for the championship, but it did not seem at any stage of the season to be able to displace Olympiacos from the top. In the end, he finished in 2nd place in a tie with Panathinaikos, 3 points behind the red and whites, but he took the ticket for the Champions League qualifiers of the next season. Also, there began to be a questioning of a part of the world and also of the management towards Fernando Santos, not so much for the efficiency, but for the defensive way the team was playing.
Just one year after the first meeting between the two teams, fortune again brought Zenit Saint Petersburg to the road of AEK in the UEFA Cup. This time, AEK were much more careful in defense and managed to leave St. Petersburg's Petrovsky Stadium with a goalless draw that gave them plenty of chances to qualify. The rematch of Olympic Stadium was expected to be difficult from the start and AEK again approached the game in the same way they faced Zenit in Russia. In the second half, AEK tried to take a little more risk by raising the lines, they had some good phases, but very soon the pace dropped again and while the game was heading to extra time, Andrey Arshavin, in the 89th minute, raced from the left, converged to the center and unleashed a powerful right-footed shot into Sorrentino's corner that touched of the ball but failed to clear the goal. The final result was 0–1 and AEK were left out of European competitions.
In the Greek Cup, AEK initially eliminated PAS Giannina with 0–3 in a single match. He then eliminated Ethnikos Piraeus in the penalty shoot-out and in the quarter-finals he eliminated Niki Volos. In the semi-finals, they played against Agrotikos Asteras, where they eliminated easily and thus advanced to the final against Olympiacos. On May 10 at the Pankritio Stadium, after a poor performance, AEK were defeated with their "hands down" by 3–0 and lost the title.
Management team
Players
Squad information
NOTE: The players are the ones that have been announced by the AEK Athens' press release. No edits should be made unless a player arrival or exit is announced. Updated 14 May 2006, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Stefano Sorrentino GK 2005 Torino Free 2010 12 Giannis Arabatzis GK 2002 Enosi Apostolou Pavlou €22,000 2007 22 Dionysis Chiotis (Vice-captain 3) GK 1995 AEK Athens U20 — 2007 Defenders 3 Nikola Malbaša LB / LM 2004 Terek Grozny Free 2007 5 Bruno Cirillo CB / RB 2005 Lecce Free 2008 6 Georgios Alexopoulos CB / RB 2005 Egaleo Free 2008 14 Stavros Tziortziopoulos LB / CB / LM 2004 Panionios Free 2007 18 Vangelis Moras CB / DM / RB 2003 Proodeftiki €260,000 2007 19 Dimitrios Koutromanos RB / LB / DM 2005 Panetolikos €50,000 2010 24 Christos Kontis RB / CB / LB 2004 Panionios Free 2007 31 Nikolaos Georgeas RB / LB / DM 2001 Kalamata €1,500,000 2008 55 Traianos Dellas (Vice-captain) CB 2005 Roma Free 2007 Midfielders 8 Miltiadis Sapanis CM / LM / AM 2005 Panathinaikos Free 2008 10 Panagiotis Kone AM / RM / LM / RW / LW / CM 2005 Lens U19 Free 2010 17 Vladan Ivić AM / CM / RM / LM 2004 Borussia Mönchengladbach Free 2007 20 Vasilios Pliatsikas DM / CM / RB / CB 2005 Chaidari Free 2010 21 Kostas Katsouranis (Captain) CM / DM / RM / LM / AM / CB / RB / LB 2002 Panachaiki Free 2007 23 Vasilios Lakis RM / RW / AM / CM / RB 2005 Crystal Palace Free 2008 25 Emerson DM / CM 2006 Skoda Xanthi €150,000 2007 26 Ilias Kyriakidis DM / CM / AM 2004 Ionikos €200,000 2009 27 Louay Chanko DM / CM / AM / RM 2005 Malmö €250,000 2008 28 Christos Bourbos RM / RB / LM / LB / RW / DM 2004 PAS Giannina Free 2008 — Panagiotis Zorbas AM / RW / LM / LW / CM 2005 Bayer 04 Leverkusen U19 Free 2011 Forwards 7 Alessandro Soares RW / SS / ST / LW 2005 OFI €150,000 2006 9 Angelos Komvolidis LW / ST 2005 VfB Stuttgart U19 €50,000 2010 11 Oleh Venhlinskyi ST / SS / RW 2005 Dnipro €850,000 2007 33 Nikos Liberopoulos (Vice-captain 2) SS / ST / AM 2003 Panathinaikos Free 2007 35 Pantelis Kapetanos ST / RW 2006 Iraklis €400,000 2011 99 Júlio César LW / SS / AM / RW / ST 2005 Gil Vicente €540,000 2009 Left during Winter Transfer Window 15 Sokratis Papastathopoulos CB / RB / LB / DM 2005 Apollon Petalidiou Free 2008 30 Simos Krassas RW / LW / RM / LM 2004 AEL Limassol €120,000 2008
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource1 TorinoFree transfer30 June 20085 LecceFree transfer30 June 20086 EgaleoFree transfer30 June 20087 OFI€150,00030 June 20068 PanathinaikosFree transfer30 June 20089 VfB Stuttgart U19€50,00030 June 201010 Lens U19Free transfer30 June 201011 Dnipro€850,00030 June 200715 Apollon PetalidiouFree transfer30 June 200819 Panetolikos€50,00030 June 201020 ChaidariFree transfer30 June 200823 Crystal PalaceFree transfer30 June 200827 Malmö€250,00030 June 200855 RomaFree transfer30 June 2007— ThrasyvoulosLoan return30 June 2006— LevadiakosLoan return30 June 2009— Bayer 04 Leverkusen U19Free transfer30 June 2011
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource25 Skoda Xanthi€150,00030 June 200735 Iraklis€400,00030 June 2011— Anorthosis FamagustaLoan return30 June 2007
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource1 AtromitosEnd of contract4 PortoLoan return5 Retired7 OFILoan return8 LevadiakosEnd of contract9 AtromitosEnd of contract10 IonikosEnd of contract15 Agios DimitriosEnd of contract20 Doxa DramaFree transfer29 Apollon KalamariasContract termintion39 KerkyraEnd of contract44 KerkyraEnd of contract77 PortoLoan return— Alki LarnacaEnd of contract
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource11 Anorthosis FamagustaFree30 June 200627 Doxa DramaFree30 June 2006— Apollon SmyrnisFree30 June 2006https://www.sportime.gr/xst/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5425&Itemid=118— ThrasyvoulosFree30 June 2006
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource15 Niki VolosFree30 June 200630 Panionios€75,00030 June 2006— Panionios€50,00030 June 2006
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource1 30 June 200830 June 201099 31 December 200530 June 2008
Notes
a. AEK Athens enabled the player's buy-out clause, prematurely. The player's loan was expiring at 30 June 2006.
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: €1,350,000
Winter: €550,000
Total: €1,900,000
Income Summer: €0
Winter: €150,000
Total: €0
Net Totals Summer: €1,350,000
Winter: €400,000
Total: €1,750,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
AEK Athens entered the Greek Cup at the round of 32.
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
UEFA Cup
First round
Statistics
Squad statistics
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window
Goalscorers
The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupUEFA CupTotal13314 2 016221 6 1 07323 4 0 047 2 2 0456 3 0 0317 3 0 0311 3 0 035 2 1 03999 2 0 0218 0 2 021125 1 0 0127 1 0 0135 1 0 0115 0 1 018 0 1 01Own goals 0 0 00Totals4210 052
Assists
The list is sorted by competition order when total assists are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupUEFA CupTotal199 10 0 010221 4 0 0423 4 0 04431 3 0 0317 3 0 0333 3 0 0373 2 0 027 2 0 02918 1 0 01Totals32 0 032
Clean sheets
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then by squad number. Clean sheets in games where both goalkeepers participated are awarded to the goalkeeper who started the game. Goalkeepers with no appearances are not included. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupUEFA CupTotal12815 1 117222 3 3 06Totals18 4 123
Disciplinary record
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer window
Starting 11 This section presents the most frequently used formation along with the players with the most starts across all competitions.
Formation Matchday(s)274–4–21,2 4–6, 8–16, 18–3064–3–344–2–1–33, 7, 1724–4–2 (D)15–4–1
Player 28Stefano SorrentinoGK5Bruno CirilloRCB6Georgios AlexopoulosLCB21Kostas Katsouranis (C)RB31Nikolaos GeorgeasLB25EmersonDM17Vladan IvićCM23Vasilios LakisRM99Júlio CésarLM7Alessandro SoaresSS33Nikos LiberopoulosCF
UEFA rankings
UEFA team ranking
#FormPreviousCountryTeamRanking5449Mallorca40.006—49Málaga40.0065678Lens39.7575738AEK Athens39.5875839Anderlecht38.9815955Beşiktaş38.634UEFA country ranking
#FormPreviousCountryLeagueRanking66Liga Sagres44.04177Eredivisie41.33188Alpha Ethniki32.081913Russian Premier League31.8331025Liga I31.457
Awards PlayerAwardSource Nikos Liberopoulos FW Greek Player of the Season (shared)
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database