The 2018–19 season was the 95th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 58th competitive season and fourth consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the Champions League. The season began on 8 August 2018 and finished on 11 May 2019.
Kits
Overview
AEK having won the championship after 24 years, aimed to enter the group stage of the Champions League. However, last season's championship-winning team had begun to fall apart well before the start of the summer. Initially the contract of Manolo Jiménez, was expired and despite his highly successful second spell at the team's bench, he decided not to renew it and return to Spain to sign for Las Palmas, in order to be close to his family. The Sevillian manager was immediately replaced with Marinos Ouzounidis, who despite his very good job at the bench of then problematic Panathinaikos and at the league's smaller clubs, had no experience in playing with the pressure of claiming the league. Afterwards, one of the most valuable players of the previous season, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, who did not agree with the management about his contract, did the unthinkable and signed for Olympiacos, with the assumption of his contract going in the courts, without affecting anything in the end. Important players such as Giannis Anestis and Jakob Johansson left after the expiration of their contracts, Ognjen Vranješ was transferred to Anderlecht, while Panagiotis Kone and Sergio Araujo returned to their clubs after their loan spells ended, with the latter reuniting with his former manager. Araujo was replaced with the loan of another great Argentine striker, Ezequiel Ponce from Roma. In addition, AEK proceeded with the loans of Marios Oikonomou, Alef and Lucas Boyé, while activating the purchase option of Marko Livaja and acquired Stratos Svarnas, Christos Albanis and Giannis Gianniotas.
The competitive obligations started with the Champions League qualifiers, where AEK were drawn against the Scottish champions, Celtic. In the first leg at Celtic Park the yellow-blacks found themselves behind early on, but managed to level the game and equalize before the half-time. In the second half, while AEK were starting to get the game under control, they were left with 10 players, due to the unjustified dismissal of Galanopoulos, but managed to keep the final 1–1. In the rematch at the Olympic Stadium, AEK managed to dominate the game from the start and quickly took the lead with 2 goals at the beginning of each half. However, after the second goal the yellow-blacks played to keep the score with the Scots pressing, but all they managed was to go down in the final 2–1. AEK were a breath away from the group stage with their only obstacle being the Hungarian champions, MOL Vidi. In the match of the Groupama Arena, AEK pressed their opponent, managing to take an easy lead with 2 goals, but an unfortunate tackle by Bakasetas resulted in his dismissal with a straight red card and from there on the roles were reversed with Vidi constantly pressing and scoring the goal that put them back in the qualification game. With AEK having a favorable 2–1 score from the first leg, they went into the second leg playing conservatively and at a low tempo, keeping control of the game. At the start of the second half, AEK won a penalty and made it 1–0, with the Hungarians then gaining ground on the pitch and equalizing in a moment of inactivity of the yellow-black defense. AEK continued to try to freeze the game's tempo and keep the ball in their possession and especially after being left with 10 players from the 80th minute, they delayed just waiting for the match to end. The final whistle found AEK in the Champions League group stage and Livaja receiving an unacceptable red card for attacking an opponent player, as well as a 4 match ban. After that match, AEK completed a 14-game unbeatean streak in the UEFA competitions, breaking their previous record for the longest ubeatean run in Europe for a Greek team. They were placed in Group E along with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Ajax and having a very difficult task, AEK performed tragically, losing all six matches and thus ending their European campaign.
In the league AEK started well with emphatic wins, but an away defeat to PAOK, as well as a 3-point deduction after a home draw with Olympiacos, left them behind in the title race, which brought disappointment within the team and negatively affected their performance. Ouzounidis, unable to change the team's playing situation and restore them to the title race, resigned in February and was replaced by Jiménez, who had been released from his club since November. The return of the Spaniard to the bench of the team after 9 months failed to change anything, AEK continued their ups and downs in their performance and in the end they barely managed to finish in third place of the standings.
In the cup, AEK easily finished at top of their group with only wins and prevailed AO Chania−Kissamikos for the round of 16. Afterwards, they eliminated with relative ease Atromitos and Lamia for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, respectively. In the final AEK faced PAOK for a third year in a row and in a repeat of the last season's final. On 11 May, in a very tight match and after a questionable refereeing, AEK once again lost the title with 1–0 to the black and whites, who won the domestic double.
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 11 May 2019, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Vasilis Barkas GK 2016 Atromitos €600,000 2022 16 Panagiotis Tsintotas GK 2017 Levadiakos Free 2023 40 Makis Giannikoglou GK 2018 PAS Giannina Free 2021 99 Panagiotis Ginis GK 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2021 Defenders 2 Michalis Bakakis (Vice-captain 2) RB / LB / CB / RM 2014 Panetolikos €250,000 2023 3 Hélder Lopes LB / LM / LW 2017 Las Palmas Free 2022 4 Marios Oikonomou CB / LB 2019 Bologna €700,000 2022 5 Vasilios Lampropoulos CB / RB 2016 Panionios Free 2019 12 Rodrigo Galo RB / RM / RW / LB 2015 Paços de Ferreira Free 2019 15 Uroš Ćosić CB / RB / LB / DM 2017 Empoli €500,000 2020 19 Dmytro Chyhrynskyi CB 2016 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Free 2020 23 Niklas Hult LB / LM 2018 Panathinaikos €200,000 2020 24 Stratos Svarnas CB / RB 2018 Xanthi Free 2023 31 Konstantinos Stamoulis CB / RB 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2021 33 Georgios Giannoutsos LB / CB / DM 2016 AEK Athens U20 — 2020 50 Michalis Bousis CB / LB 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2021 — Giannis Tsivelekidis CB / RB 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2021 Midfielders 6 Nenad Krstičić CM / DM / AM 2019 Red Star €500,000 2022 8 André Simões (Vice-captain) DM / CM 2015 Moreirense Free 2022 20 Petros Mantalos (Captain) AM / LM / CM / LW / SS / RM / RW 2014 Xanthi €500,000 2022 25 Konstantinos Galanopoulos CM / DM 2015 AEK Athens U20 — 2021 51 Giannis Sardelis AM / CM / RW / LW 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2021 70 Giannis Fivos Botos AM / CM / LM / RM 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2021 95 Alef CM / DM 2018 Braga €150,000 2019 Forwards 7 Christos Albanis LW / RW / LM / RM / SS 2018 Apollon Smyrnis €400,000 2021 10 Marko Livaja SS / ST / AM / LW / RW / LM / RM 2018 Las Palmas €1,800,000 2021 11Giannis Gianniotas RW / LW / RM / LM / SS / ST 2018 Olympiacos Free 2021 14 Anastasios Bakasetas SS / AM / ST / RW / LW / RM / LM 2016 Panionios €300,000 2022 17 Victor Klonaridis SS / LW / RW / LM / RM / ST / AM / CM 2017 Lens €200,000 2020 22 Ezequiel Ponce ST 2018 Roma Free 2019 31 Lucas Boyé SS / ST / LW / RW / LM / RM / AM 2018 Torino €450,000 2019 77 Christos Giousis RW / LW / RM / LM / SS / AM 2017 AEK Athens U20 — 2022 Left during Winter Transfer Window 32 Paris Babis DM / CM 2017 AEK Athens U20 — 2022 39 Erik Morán DM / CM 2018 Leganés €130,000 2021 — Astrit Ajdarević CM / AM / DM / ST 2016 Örebro Free 2019 9 Giorgos Giakoumakis ST / SS 2017 Platanias €300,000 2021
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource7 Apollon Smyrnis€400,00030 June 202110 Las Palmas€1,800,00030 June 202111 OlympiacosFree transfer30 June 202124 XanthiFree transfer30 June 202331 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 202140 PAS GianninaFree transfer30 June 202150 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 202151 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 202170 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 202199 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 2021— AO Chania−KissamikosLoan return30 June 2020— AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 2021— AO Chania−KissamikosLoan return30 June 2019— AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 2021— LamiaLoan return30 June 2020— PaniliakosFree transfer30 June 2021— Sport Recife U20Free transfer30 June 2023— Apollon PontusLoan return30 June 2019
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource4 Bologna€700,00030 June 20226 Red Star€500,00030 June 2022— TrikalaLoan termination30 June 2021— Željezničar€450,00031 December 2023— ErgotelisLoan termination30 June 2022— SpartaLoan return30 June 2021
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource4 Anderlecht€3,200,000 7 OlympiacosEnd of contract10 Las PalmasLoan return11 Las PalmasLoan return16 PanegialiosContract termination18 Stade RennaisEnd of contract21 UdineseLoan return22 Hapoel Be'er ShevaEnd of contract24 Tractor SaziEnd of contract31 VolosContract termination55 Apollon SmyrnisContract termination— ArisFree transfer
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource4 BolognaLoan termination6 DjurgårdenContract termination
Loan in
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource4 Bologna€100,00022 RomaFree31 Torino€450,00095 Braga€150,000
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource— SpartaFree— LamiaFree— TrikalaFree— ErgotelisFree— ErgotelisFree— SpartaFree
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource9 OFIUndislosed32 Apollon PontusFree39 MálagaUndisclosed— PaniliakosFree— ŽeljezničarFree— DiagorasFree— AiginiakosFree
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource1 30 June 201930 June 20222 30 June 202030 June 20233 30 June 201930 June 20228 30 June 201930 June 202214 30 June 201930 June 202216 30 June 202030 June 2023
Notes
a. Co-ownership.
b. AEK Athens enabled the player's buy-out clause prematurely.
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: €2,900,000
Winter: €1,650,000
Total: €4,550,000
Income Summer: €3,200,000
Winter: €0
Total: €3,200,000
Net Totals Summer: €300,000
Winter: €1,650,000
Total: €1,350,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Super League Greece
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
Group B
Matches
Group stage
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
UEFA Champions League
Third qualifying round The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 23 July 2018.
Play-off round The draw for the play-off round was held on 6 August 2018.
Group stage
The group stage draw was held on 30 August 2018.
Matches
Statistics
Squad statistics
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards
! colspan="11" 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. RankPlayerSuper LeagueGreek CupChampions LeagueTotal122 16 5 021210 7 4 112320 5 3 19431 6 0 0614 4 1 1628 2 0 46712 1 2 1484 2 1 03995 1 1 026 0 2 021125 1 0 018 1 0 0139 0 1 019 0 1 0170 0 1 0151 0 1 017 0 1 01Own goals 3 2 05Totals4926 883
Assists
The list is sorted by competition order when total assists are equal, then by position and then by squad number.