The 2003–04 season was the 80th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 45th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Champions League. The season began on 17 August 2003 and finished on 22 May 2004.

Kits

Overview The summer of 2003 started with severe financial and administrative problems for another season in the history of AEK. The administration of the court of first instance was trying to put the club in an order after the "mess" that was created by Makis Psomiadis and things were difficult, while the star player of the team, Demis Nikolaidis also left for Atlético Madrid. The situation seemed disappointing, but suddenly, in the summer, the climate reversed after some strong transfers were made with the acquisition of Nikos Liberopoulos and Ioannis Okkas with the help of the outsider, Dimitris Melissanidis, while almost all the main players of the previous season remained within the roster.

Despite the roster being capable, the atmosphere within the was bad, which resulted in their display of a bad image in the season. The players were unpaid, Bajević was permanently at odds with some of the supporters, without showing that he was the manager he used to be, and as if all this was not enough, the team was roaming around various stadiums in Attica, since the Nikos Goumas Stadium was demolished. The result was the resignation of Bajević during the 18th matchday. With the assumption of the technical leadership by the Romanian Ilie Dumitrescu, AEK eventually finished at the 4th place of the league with the players presenting themselves far below their value and the team looking disjointed and weak throughout during the season.

AEK had the opportunity to compete for the second consecutive season in the Champions League group stage, and the need for this to happen became even more imperative for financial reasons, since the team was facing huge financial problems. On their way, the Swiss Grasshopper and the yellow-blacks were considered favorites for qualification. In the first match at the Hardturm, the AEK did not appear ready and the Swiss had the upper hand and even if they became more threatening offensively in the second half, the Swiss team scored, the match ended 1–0 and things became difficult for the Greek team. The rematch that took place at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium with AEK entering the match very strongly and with 2 goals and an own goal were already getting a qualifying score by the 39th minute. In the second half, however, Grasshoppers scored and in the last minutes the Swiss team put a lot of pressure on the Greek team without finally being able to score the goal that would have given them qualification. Thus, AEK qualified for a second year in a row in the group stage of the Champions League and were drawn with Monaco, Deportivo La Coruña and PSV Eindhoven, where they finished last after 2 draws and 4 defeats.

In the Greek Cup, AEK first eliminated Doxa Drama then they qualified without an opponent to the Round of 16, where they also eliminated Agrotikos Asteras and then they faced Iraklis, where they also got an easy qualification. In the semi-finals AEK came across Panathinaikos. The first match at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium ended 2–2 with both teams scoring one goal each towards the end of the match. In the rematch at Giannis Pathiakakis Stadium, the yellow-blacks appeared inferior to the circumstances, ultimately losing with 0–1 and thus they were eliminated from the final.

As the season progressed, the team's financial and administrative situation appeared to have reached their limits, with the result that the very existence of the club was threatened. Top scorer of this bad season in the league for AEK, Nikos Liberopoulos with 13 goals, while Vasilios Lakis scored 10 goals.

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 22 May 2004, 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 Sotiris Liberopoulos GK 2001 Kalamata Free 2005 22 Dionysis Chiotis GK 1995 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 41 Giannis Arabatzis GK 2002 Enosi Apostolou Pavlou €22,000 2007 Defenders 2 Vasilios Borbokis RB / RM 2002 PAOK Free 2004 5 Nikos Kostenoglou (Vice-captain 2) CB / RB 1994 Skoda Xanthi €200,000 2005 8 Michel Kreek LB / CB / LM / CM / DM 2002 Vitesse €500,000 2004 16 Nikolaos Georgeas RB / LB / DM 2001 Kalamata €1,500,000 2007 17 Michalis Kasapis (Captain) LB / LM 1993 Levadiakos €75,000 2006 18 Vangelis Moras CB / DM / RB 2003 Proodeftiki €260,000 2007 19 Kofi Amponsah CB / LB 2003 PAOK Free 2006 25 Goran Popov LB / CB / RB 2004 Belasica €50,000 2004 32 Michalis Kapsis CB 1999 Ethnikos Piraeus €250,000 2007 38 Panagiotis Stergiatos CB 2003 AEK Athens U20 — 2008 39 Grigoris Toskas CB 2000 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 81 Stathis Kappos RB 2001 Kalamata Free 2005 Midfielders 3 Milen Petkov DM / CM / AM / RM / LM 2000 CSKA Sofia €800,000 2004 6 Theodoros Zagorakis CM / DM / AM / RM / CB / RB 2000 Leicester City Free 2005 10 Vasilios Tsiartas (Vice-captain) AM / RM / LM / SS 2000 Sevilla €3,500,000 2006 14 Ivan Rusev AM / RM / LM / CM 2001 Spartak Varna Free 2005 21 Kostas Katsouranis CM / DM / RM / LM / AM / CB / RB / LB 2002 Panachaiki Free 2005 23 Vasilios Lakis RM / RW / AM / CM / RB 1998 Paniliakos €1,000,000 2007 35 Dimitris Karameris CM / DM 2000 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 40 Christos Tsevas AM 2003 AEK Athens U20 — 2008 — Peter Philipakos RM / AM 2004 American Eagles Free 2005 Forwards 9 Ioannis Okkas ST / RW / LW / SS / AM 2003 PAOK Free 2005 20 Sotiris Konstantinidis RW / LW / RM / LM / AM 1999 Iraklis Free 2007 26 Christos Kostis SS / ST / AM / RW / LW 2000 Anderlecht Free 2005 30 Ilija Ivić ST / LW 2002 Aris Free 2006 33 Nikos Liberopoulos SS / ST / AM 2003 Panathinaikos Free 2006 88 Dimitris Nalitzis ST 2003 Udinese €200,000 2007 Left during Winter Transfer Window 31 Grigoris Georgatos LB / LM / LW / CM 2002 Internazionale €3,000,000 2005 — Stelios Maistrellis CB 2002 Aiolikos Free 2006 7 Christos Maladenis CM / RM / LM / AM / DM / RW / LW / SS 1995 Skoda Xanthi €300,000 2005 34 Nikos Pourtoulidis CM / AM 2002 Nea Karvali Free 2006 36 Anastasios Thanos ST 2003 AEK Athens U20 — 2004

Transfers

In

Summer

PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource9 PAOKFree transfer30 June 200518 Proodeftiki€260,00030 June 200719 PAOKFree transfer30 June 200633 PanathinaikosFree transfer30 June 200636 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 200438 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 200840 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 200888 Udinese€200,00030 June 2007

Winter

PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource— American EaglesFree transfer30 June 2005

Out

Summer

PlayerToFeeDateSource11 Atlético MadridContract termination13 Free agentContact termination15 Nueva ChicagoContract termination18 SaprissaContract termination19 Shenyang GindeContract termination37 UdineseLoan return

Winter

PlayerToFeeDateSource7 PAOKContract termination31 OlympiacosContract termination36 ProodeftikiContract termination

Notes

a. Plus 25% of resale.

b. The player paid €400,000 to the club for his contract termination so he could rejoin Olympiacos.

Loan in

Winter

PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource25 Belasica€50,00030 June 2004

Loan out

Summer

PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource20 Niki VolosFree30 June 2004

Winter

PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource34 ThrasyvoulosFree30 June 2005— AkratitosFree30 June 2004

Contract renewals

PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource2 30 June 200330 June 20043 30 June 200330 June 20045 30 June 200330 June 20056 30 June 200330 June 20057 30 June 200330 June 200510 30 June 200330 June 200616 31 December 200431 December 200720 30 June 200430 June 200723 30 June 200330 June 200730 30 June 200530 June 200632 31 December 200330 June 2007

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure Summer: €460,000

Winter: €50,000

Total: €510,000

Income Summer: €0

Winter: €0

Total: €0

Net Totals Summer: €460,000

Winter: €50,000

Total: €510,000

Pre-season and friendlies

Competitions

Overall record

Alpha Ethniki

League table

Results summary

Results by Matchday

Matches

Greek Cup

First round

Second round AEK Athens qualified to the Round of 16 without a match.

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

UEFA Champions League

Third qualifying round The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 25 July 2003.

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 28 August 2003.

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 CupChampions LeagueTotal13313 3 11722310 1 011321 7 2 11049 5 4 09531 5 0 0517 5 0 0510 2 2 15820 2 1 0314 1 2 031088 2 0 023 1 1 021219 1 0 012 1 0 017 1 0 0126 0 1 01Own goals 1 0 12Totals5717 478

Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Nikos Liberopoulos Akratitos 7–2 (A) 9 November 2003 Alpha Ethniki Ioannis Okkas Doxa Drama 4–0 (A) 17 August 2003 Greek Cup

Assists

The list is sorted by competition order when total assists are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupChampions LeagueTotal11012 2 115220 4 2 069 4 2 06423 3 2 0556 4 0 0433 3 1 042 3 0 14814 2 1 0388 2 0 131021 2 0 0217 2 0 02125 1 0 018 1 0 013 1 0 017 0 1 01Totals4411 358

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 CupChampions LeagueTotal11 6 2 19212 2 1 0322 2 1 03Totals10 4 115

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)394–4–21–2, 4–17, 19–3034–2–3–13, 1825–4–1

Player 1Chrysostomos MichailidisGK18Vangelis MorasRCB32Michalis KapsisLCB2Vasilios BorbokisRB8Michel KreekLB6Theodoros Zagorakis (C)DM21Kostas KatsouranisCM23Vasilios LakisRM10Vasilios TsiartasLM33Nikos LiberopoulosSS9Ioannis OkkasCF

References

External links masternews.gr Kit source AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database