The 2004–05 season was the 81st season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 46th 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 11 September 2004 and finished on 25 May 2005.
Kits
Overview The season found AEK faced with annihilation, since their debts were unmanageable and unmanageable for anyone. The former star of the team, Demis Nikolaidis and a group of partners and friends of the club, put on the carpet the plan of being included in the article 44 of the bankruptcy law and on 7 July he took over the administration. The article 44 was an inspiration of the economist Giorgos Kintis, who elaborated the plan and as soon as the first financiers and the leader Nikolaidis were found, hope began to fade. AEK went to court, but its first application in May was rejected. In the meantime, Nikolaidis, having the full support of the club's supportes, came to an agreement with the majority of the footballers for part of the dues and planned as best he could the continuation of the team's competition. Nikolaidis proceeded with some partial agreements, managed and set up a budget and mainly persuaded the team's former coach Fernando Santos to return to Greece, with a clause that if the team went bankrupt, he would be free. The roster that the Portuguese had in his hands to work with was lacking, since the big stars had left with the only remaining ones being Kostas Katsouranis and Nikos Liberopoulos as well as the veterans, Nikos Kostenoglou and Nikolaos Georgeas, while at the end of the transfer period, with personal actions of Santos, they acquired Bruno Alves and Paulo Assunção on loan from Porto. Meanwhile, the article 44 legal battle continued and the season of uncertainty began with the world turning its attention to the very existence of AEK, which depended on the court's final verdict. The fans of AEK showed their opposition to the annihilation of the team in every way either with a banner in Rizoupoli or with the historic rally of October 2004 in the centor of Athens, where more than 10 thousand people demonstrated in favor of saving the team. On 18 November the club was vindicated and the team looked to the future with optimism.
Freed from the stress of existence itself and in an unprecedented climate of rallying and unity, AEK began a run in the league with back-to-back victories and April found them equal contenders for the championship. AEK became the favorite, since in front of them is the easy game against Ionikos at the Olympic Stadium, but the team from Nikaia with a goal at the end, cut the hopes for the championship in history and the 0–0 draw in the game against Panathinaikos at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, in a match where AEK had many complaints from the referee, limited them in the third place.
The participation in the groups of the UEFA Cup was of vital importance for AEK, who were in dire need of the income from the European participation, which was barely secured from UEFA. The Slovenians from Gorica seemed like an easy opponent, but for AEK, which were in the uncertainty of bankruptcy, they turned out to be difficult. The game at Sports Park went wrong from the beginning, as AEK conceded a goal, but luckily, they equalized by the end of the half-time. The score did not change despite the pressure from the Slovenians, AEK stood up and became the favorite. The tense rematch was played in an intense atmosphere in Georgios Kamaras Stadium, after AEK fans turned it into a sustained protest against the negative decision of the article 44. The team in the first half tried, but in the second half they were in serious danger even with exclusion from the Slovenians, but with a goal at the end of the game, AEK advanced to the group stage. There, in a relatively difficult draw, they found themselves in the same group as Sevilla, Lille, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Alemannia Aachen, where they had a very bad campaign with 4 defeats in equal matches, thus staying out of the continuation of the tournament.
The course of the team in the Cup was similar, where after eliminating PANO Malia and Agios Dimitrios, they found in front of them the double winner of the previous season, Panathinaikos. The first leg ended in a draw at the Olympic Stadium, after Liberopoulos equalized the goal of Konstantinou. Panathinaikos confirmed the title of favourite, until the return leg, on a big night for AEK, who opened the scoring through Katsouranis early on, but were equalized after heavy pressure from Panathinaikos. Somewhere there the team of Santos woke up and immediately took the lead again, until in the 77th minute Vladimir Ivić in his most important goal with AEK, sealed an emphatic qualification calling the fans of the host to be quiet. The quarter-finals seemed like an easy mission for AEK and indeed Panionios turned out to be an easy opponent, since after the indifferent 0–0 at Nea Smyrni, prevailed easyly by 2–0. AEK were in the semi-finals and they were going for the double. Their opponent were Olympiacos who had re-hired Dušan Bajević, whom they dominated at the Olympic Stadium, despite the final loss with 0–1. The rematch at Karaiskakis Stadium seemed difficult, but AEK scored and the match went to extra time. The referee and his assistants were doing everything they could to push Olympiacos to qualify and thus with the expulsion of Júlio César the game turned into a monologue for Olympiacos who was redeemed by an own from Moras and while the attacks of AEK were cut as allegedly offside, Okkas sealed his team's qualification 2 minutes before the end of extra time. AEK were eliminated in the semi-finals that were admittedly better than their opponent.
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 25 May 2005, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Chrysostomos Michailidis GK 1997 Eordaikos Free 2005 12 Giannis Arabatzis GK 2002 Enosi Apostolou Pavlou €22,000 2007 22 Dionysis Chiotis (Vice-captain 2) GK 1995 AEK Athens U20 — 2007 Defenders 3 Nikola Malbaša LB / LM 2004 Terek Grozny Free 2007 4 Bruno Alves CB / DM 2004 Porto Free 2005 5 Nikos Kostenoglou (Vice-captain) CB / RB 1994 Skoda Xanthi €200,000 2005 14 Stavros Tziortziopoulos LB / CB / LM 2004 Panionios Free 2007 15 Dimitris Koutsikos RB / DM 2004 AEK Athens U20 — 2006 16 Nikolaos Georgeas RB / LB / DM 2001 Kalamata €1,500,000 2008 18 Vangelis Moras CB / DM / RB 2003 Proodeftiki €260,000 2007 24 Christos Kontis RB / CB / LB 2004 Panionios Free 2007 27 Panagiotis Stergiatos CB 2003 AEK Athens U20 — 2008 39 Grigoris Toskas CB 2000 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 Midfielders 8 Ivan Rusev AM / RM / LM / CM 2001 Spartak Varna Free 2005 9 Milen Petkov DM / CM / AM / RM / LM 2000 CSKA Sofia €800,000 2005 17 Vladan Ivić AM / CM / RM / LM 2004 Borussia Mönchengladbach Free 2007 21 Kostas Katsouranis (Captain) CM / DM / RM / LM / AM / CB / RB / LB 2002 Panachaiki Free 2007 26 Ilias Kyriakidis DM / CM / AM 2004 Ionikos €200,000 2009 28 Christos Bourbos RM / RB / LM / LB / RW / DM 2004 PAS Giannina Free 2008 77 Paulo Assunção DM / CM 2004 Porto Free 2005 Forwards 7 Alessandro Soares RW / SS / ST / LW 2004 OFI €60,000 2005 10 Sotiris Konstantinidis RW / LW / RM / LM / AM 1999 Iraklis Free 2005 11 Leonidas Kampantais ST / SS / RW 2004 Aris Free 2007 20 Ilias Solakis ST 2002 APOEL Free 2007 29 Christos Christoforidis LW / ST / SS 2005 Assyriska FF Free 2005 30 Simos Krassas RW / LW / RM / LM 2004 AEL Limassol €120,000 2008 33 Nikos Liberopoulos SS / ST / AM 2003 Panathinaikos Free 2007 44 Nikos Voulgaris ST 2004 Torino Primavera €100,000 2005 99 Júlio César LW / SS / AM / RW / ST 2005 Gil Vicente €540,000 2005 — Christos Kostis SS / ST / AM / RW / LW 2000 Anderlecht Free 2005 Left during Winter Transfer Window 2 Stathis Kappos RB 2001 Kalamata Free 2005 6 Stelios Maistrellis CB 2002 Aiolikos Free 2006 25 Kofi Amponsah CB / LB 2003 PAOK Free 2006 19 Manolis Tsagarogiannakis AM 2004 Gyziakos Free 2009 32 Christos Tsevas AM 2003 AEK Athens U20 — 2008
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource6 AkratitosLoan return30 June 200611 ArisFree transfer30 June 200714 PanioniosFree transfer30 June 200715 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 200619 GyziakosFree transfer30 June 200920 Niki VolosLoan return30 June 200624 PanioniosFree transfer30 June 200728 PAS GianninaFree transfer30 June 200830 AEL Limassol€120,00030 June 200844 Torino Primavera€100,00030 June 2005
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource3 Terek GroznyFree transfer30 June 200717 Borussia MönchengladbachFree transfer31 December 200726 Ionikos€200,00031 December 200929 Assyriska FFFree transfer31 December 200599 Gil Vicente€540,00031 December 2005
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource2 Anorthosis FamagustaEnd of contract6 BolognaContract termination8 Willem IIEnd of contract9 OlympiacosContract termination10 1. FC KölnContract termination12 ArisContract termination17 Retired23 Crystal PalaceContract termination25 BelasicaLoan return30 Retired32 Bordeaux€500,00088 KerkyraContract termination— OlympiacosContract termination
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource2 ArisContract termination6 LevadiakosContract termination19 EgaleoContract termination32 AkratitosContract termination
Loan in
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource4 PortoFree30 June 20057 OFI€60,00030 June 200577 PortoFree30 June 2005
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource35 LevadiakosFree30 June 2005
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource19 Agia ParaskeviFree30 June 2006
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource9 30 June 200430 June 200510 30 June 200730 June 200516 31 December 200730 June 200821 30 June 200530 June 200722 30 June 200530 June 200733 30 June 200630 June 2007
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: €280,000
Winter: €740,000
Total: €1,020,000
Income Summer: €500,000
Winter: €0
Total: €500,000
Net Totals Summer: €220,000
Winter: €740,000
Total: €520,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
First round
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
UEFA Cup
First round
Group stage
Matches
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 CupTotal1711 3 115233 9 3 11332110 1 112417 4 1 0599 4 1 05611 2 2 04730 2 0 13810 0 2 02924 1 0 019 1 0 018 1 0 014 0 1 0118 0 1 0128 0 1 0125 0 0 1114 0 0 11Own goals 1 0 01Totals4616 668
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 4 0 0433 4 0 0439 2 1 03418 2 0 0277 2 0 0228 2 0 027 2 0 0210 2 0 0230 2 0 021122 1 0 014 1 0 0125 1 0 013 1 0 0121 1 0 0117 1 0 0120 1 0 01Totals29 1 030
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.