The 2020–21 season was the 97th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 60th competitive season and sixth consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. The season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and all the games were played behind closed doors. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the Europa League. The season began on 19 September 2020 and finished on 16 May 2021.
Kits
Overview The season started for the first time in three years with the same manager at the team's bench, Massimo Carrera, but in the shadow of the fourth consecutive lost Cup final in September. Theoretically, the club had made changes to improve their roster, buying Damian Szymański who was previously on loan, while signing Ionuț Nedelcearu, Yevhen Shakhov, Levi García, Muamer Tanković and Karim Ansarifard among others, with several of the players that arrived had unknown or with little experience at a high level. On the other hand, Vasilis Barkas, Marios Oikonomou, Niklas Hult, Daniele Verde and Victor Klonaridis departed, while the permanent stay of Ognjen Vranješ and Sergio Araujo once again did not occur. It was also the season that followed the interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in no actual pre-season preparation during summer with the clubs prioritising the protection of their players and staff from COVID-19 and then organize their competitive plans, while all the games of the season were in front of empty stands.
Luck smiled for AEK, as the draw for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League brought them facing St. Gallen. Due to a busy schedule and the consequences of the pandemic, UEFA had decided that the matches of the qualifying rounds as well as the play-off rounds in all of their competitions would be single-legged. The match was set to be played at Kybunpark and in a nervous and uneventful match, AEK had the initiative, while Garcia's entrance in the second half gave them the boost they needed and at the 73rd minute the Greek club won a penalty, which was taken by Oliveira. Despite the goalkeeper saving the penalty, the Portoguese striker scored in the rebound with a header making the 0–1, which was the final score. In the play-off round, AEK were drawn to face Wolfsburg at the Olympic Stadium. The yellow-blacks started ideally and won a penalty which was saved by the goalkeeper. From that moment on, the Germans started to press and took the lead at the end of half-time. AEK did not give up the match and equalized with an elusive shot from outside the area by Simões. Wolfsburg tried to regain the lead but the defense of AEK held well and in the last counterattack of the match, Livaja served a long precision ball to Ansarifard, who stepped forward, feinted and slotted low to the left and made the 2–1, giving AEK the qualification to the group stage.
UEFA's draw placed AEK Athens in Group G, alongside Braga, Leicester City and Zorya Luhansk. With terrible performances in all matches with the exception of an imposing away victory against Zorya and a good image in the home defeat against Leicester, AEK's European course ended poorly, as they did not manage to claim the qualification and finished last in the group.
AEK were going well in the league, but the turing point where the team's performance fell as the previous seasons was after the trip to Ukraine away game against Zorya. On AEK's return from Luhansk, five players and their manager were diagnosed with COVID-19, with the result that the team suddenly lost its identity and began to display the competitive issues of previous seasons. A series of bad results, some incidents of indiscipline by key players and some questionable choices of the manager brought the first rifts with the management and after a series of poor performances the contract of Massimo Carrera was terminated alongside the resignation of the technical director, Ilija Ivić. The former footballer of the club who had just retired in the summer as a player, Panagiotis Kone, took over as the new technical director and as the new manager, an old acquaintance, Manolo Jiménez in his fourth spell at AEK, with the aim, as in the previous ones, to first improve the defense and then take the team as high as possible. The aftermath of the winter transfer period was the departure of Marko Livaja, after his unwillingness to renew his contract, in which the management reacted by putting him in inactivity from the team and led in his mutual contract termination, while no substantial strengthening was made. At the start the Spaniard seemed to improve the competitive performance, but yet again the team collapsed. In the Cup, after two expected but not easy qualifications against Apollon Smyrnis and Volos, faced another embarrassing elimination from PAOK with two defeats in the semi-finals. The regular season ended with the team struggling to finish third, but the real shock came in the play-offs.
The four defeats both home and away against Olympiacos and PAOK respectively, with a humiliating 1–5 home defeat from the former, made the atmosphere even heavier. It was fortunate for the players, the manager and the administration that the matches were held without crowd that would probably have led to heavy incidents. The team was close to an absolute disaster with a fifth-place finish, which meant the absence from the European competitions, but a 0–1 win at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, brought AEK finishing fourth, leaving Panathniakos out of the next season's European competitions.
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 16 May 2021, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Panagiotis Tsintotas GK 2017 Levadiakos Free 2023 16 Vasilios Chatziemmanouil GK 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2025 30 Georgios Athanasiadis GK 2019 Asteras Tripolis Free 2023 99 Georgios Theocharis GK 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2024 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 5 Ionuț Nedelcearu CB / DM 2020 Ufa €550,000 2024 15 Žiga Laci CB 2020 Mura €400,000 2023 19 Dmytro Chyhrynskyi (Vice-captain 3) CB 2016 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Free 2021 24 Stratos Svarnas CB / RB 2018 Xanthi Free 2025 26 Nassim Hnid CB 2020 Sfaxien €600,000 2024 33 Oleh Danchenko RB / RM / LB / LM 2021 Rubin Kazan €400,000 2024 37 Vedad Radonja RB / LB / RM / DM 2020 Dinamo Zagreb U19 Free 2025 40 Mario Mitaj LB / LM / LW 2020 AEK Athens U17 — 2023 88 Stavros Vasilantonopoulos RB / RM / LM / DM 2015 Apollon Smyrnis Free 2021 Midfielders 4 Damian Szymański CM / DM / AM 2020 Akhmat Grozny 1,300,000 2024 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 2024 25 Konstantinos Galanopoulos (Vice-captain 4) CM / DM 2015 AEK Athens U20 — 2023 28 Yevhen Shakhov CM / AM / DM 2020 Lecce Free 2022 51 Giannis Sardelis AM / CM / RW / LW 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2021 Forwards 9 Levi García RW / RM / LW / LM / SS / ST 2020 Beitar Jerusalem €2,600,000 2025 11 Karim Ansarifard ST 2020 Al-Sailiya Free 2023 14 Christos Albanis LW / RW / LM / RM / SS 2018 Apollon Smyrnis €400,000 2024 17 Muamer Tanković LW / SS / RW / LM / RM / ST / AM 2020 Hammarby Free 2024 18 Nélson Oliveira ST / SS 2019 Norwich City €1,000,000 2021 35 Michalis Kosidis ST 2021 AEK Athens U19 — 2026 52 Efthymis Christopoulos ST / SS / RW / LW 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2023 53 Theodosis Macheras LW / RW / RM / LM 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2026 Left during Summer Transfer Window 12 Bright Enobakhare SS / ST / RW / LW / AM 2020 Wolves Free 2023 Left during Winter Transfer Window 22 Emanuel Insúa LB / LM 2020 Panathinaikos Free 2023 27 Paulinho RB / RM 2019 Chaves Free 2021 29 David Simão CM / AM / DM 2019 Antwerp €400,000 2022 44 Anel Šabanadžović CM / DM 2019 Željezničar €450,000 2023 70 Giannis Fivos Botos AM / CM / LM / RM 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2023 10 Marko Livaja SS / ST / AM / LW / RW / LM / RM 2018 Las Palmas €1,800,000 2021 69 Petar Karaklajić LW / RW 2020 Proleter Free 2025
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource4 Akhmat Grozny€1,300,00030 June 20245 Ufa€550,00030 June 20249 Beitar Jerusalem€2,600,00030 June 202511 Al-SailiyaFree transfer30 June 202312 WolvesFree transfer30 June 202316 FostirasLoan return30 June 202117 HammarbyFree transfer30 June 202422 PanathinaikosFree transfer30 June 202326 Sfaxien€600,00030 June 202428 LecceFree transfer30 June 202229 Hapoel Be'er ShevaLoan return30 June 202237 Dinamo Zagreb U19Free transfer30 June 202540 AEK Athens U17Promotion30 June 202369 ProleterFree transfer30 June 202588 Górnik ZabrzeLoan return30 June 202199 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 2024— AspropyrgosLoan return30 June 2023— Ethnikos PiraeusLoan return30 June 2020— ErgotelisLoan return30 June 2023— IonikosLoan return30 June 2024— Alki OrokliniLoan return30 June 2021— PlataniasLoan return30 June 2022— Asteras TripolisLoan return30 June 2022— PlataniasLoan return30 June 2022— ErgotelisFree transfer30 June 2024— Górnik ZabrzeLoan return30 June 2021
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource33 Rubin Kazan€400,00030 June 202435 AEK Athens U19Promotion30 June 2026
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource1 Celtic€5,000,0004 Copenhagen€1,000,00011 Las PalmasLoan return12 Free agentContract termination17 APOELEnd of contract21 AnderlechtLoan termination23 Hannover 96End of contract— KallitheaEnd of contract— VVV-Venlo€200,000
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource27 Gil VicenteContract termitation10 Hajduk SplitContract termitation
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource7 Spezia€300,00030 June 202131 LamiaFree30 June 2021— IonikosFree30 June 2021— Asteras VlachiotiFree30 June 2021— Apollon LarissaFree30 June 2021— EpiskopiFree30 June 2021— Apollon LarissaFree30 June 2021— VolendamFree30 June 2021— LamiaFree30 June 2021— PanachaikiFree30 June 2021
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource22 AldosiviFree30 June 202130 MoreirenseFree30 June 202144 ŽeljezničarFree30 June 202169 RadFree30 June 202170 Go Ahead EaglesFree30 June 2022
Notes
a. Beitar Jerusalem keeps 40% of the player's rights.
b. plus €1,000,000 bonuses.
c. plus 15% of resale fee.
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource14 30 June 202130 June 202416 30 June 202130 June 202520 30 June 202230 June 202424 30 June 202330 June 202525 30 June 202130 June 202340 30 June 202331 December 202353 30 June 202330 June 2026
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: €5,050,000
Winter: €400,000
Total: €5,050,000
Income Summer: €6,500,000
Winter: €0
Total: €6,500,000
Net Totals Summer: €1,450,000
Winter: €400,000
Total: €1,050,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Super League Greece
Regular season
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Play-off round
Table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
AEK entered the Greek Cup at the sixth round.
Sixth round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
UEFA Europa League
Qualification rounds The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 1 September 2020 and the draw for the play-off round was held on 18 September 2020.
Group stage
The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.
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