The 1995–96 season was the 72nd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 37th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The season began on 20 August 1995 and finished on 29 May 1996.
Kits
Overview
During the previous season, Michalis Trochanas became the new major shareholder of the club. In collaboration with Dušan Bajević, he retained the core of the successful squad and strengthened it with Batista, who returned from Olympiacos, Maladenis and Pavlopoulos. AEK had a squad full of quality players and this was largely due to the fact that many players were enjoying some of the best seasons of their careers. Bajević managed to accommodate all of the team's key players in the starting lineup and built a team that seemed capable of overpowering any domestic opponent.
In the first round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, AEK were drawn against Sion. With an easy 2–0 win at home they secured qualification. All the Swiss managed at the rematch of Stade Tourbillon was a 2–2 draw. In the second round they faced Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the leg at Bökelbergstadion, AEK initially took control of the match, but in the second half they collapsed. In the final 15 minutes the score became 3–0 and despite a goal by Maladenis, Gladbach effectively ended AEK's hopes of qualification scoring a fourth goal in the dying minutes. The second leg at Nea Filadelfeia was played before a lively crowd, however the hopes turned out to be in vain, since the yellow-blacks created few clear chances. In the end, Effenberg scored the only goal of the match in the 70th minute and AEK were eliminated with two defeats.
AEK played attractive attacking football scoring 87 goals in 34 matches but finished second, behind Panathinaikos, who adopted a more pragmatic approach. During the second round, AEK lost much of their focus as a team, due to the Bajević issue. Sections of the sports media, particularly those close to Olympiacos claimed that the manager of AEK had agreed with Sokratis Kokkalis for his move to the club of Piraeus in the following summer. Initially those reports were dismissed within AEK. However, as Bajević continued to refrain from denying them, anxiety and insecurity increased within the club and the whole story affected the team's performances. At the same time, the situation was further aggravated by the public statements by Trochanas, whose behavior in general was later cited by Bajević for his eventual departure. The 1–0 defeat at the hands of Panathinaikos on 10 April at the Olympic Stadium proved decisive in the title race, as well.
AEK's attacking football was rewarded by winning the Cup. Their triumph left no room for doubt, since the "yellow-blacks" after finishing first in their group, they comfortably eliminated in the knock-out stage Iraklis and both their rivals, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively. In the final AEK scored a record seven goals against Apollon Athens, winning by 7–1, despite Batista being sent off at the 52nd minute.
Although AEK failed to win the league title, the team's attacking style and goalscoring record made the season one of the most memorable in the club's history. Several members of the regular starting lineup enjoyed outstanding individual seasons, with Vasilios Tsiartas finishing as the league's top scorer with 26 goals, with Christos Kostis, Temur Ketsbaia and Batista also reaching double figures in 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 29 May 1996, 23:59 UTC+3.
PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers Spyros Ikonomopoulos GK 1979 AEK Athens U20 — 1996 Ilias Atmatsidis GK 1992 Pontioi Veria ₯40,000,000 1996 Vasilis Karagiannis GK 1993 Diagoras ₯20,000,000 1998 Dionysis Chiotis GK 1995 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 Defenders Stelios Manolas (Captain) CB / RB 1980 AEK Athens U20 — 1996 Georgios Koutoulas CB / LB 1987 AEK Athens U20 — 1999 Michalis Vlachos (Vice-captain) CB / DM 1993 Olympiacos Free 1998 Vaios Karagiannis LB / CB 1990 A.O. Karditsa ₯11,000,000 2000 Konstantinos Pavlopoulos CB 1995 OFI Free 1998 Vasilios Borbokis RB / RM 1993 Apollon Kalamarias Free 1997 Charis Kopitsis RB / RM / LB / LM 1992 Panionios Free 1997 Nikos Kostenoglou CB / RB 1994 Skoda Xanthi ₯70,000,000 1998 Michalis Kasapis LB / LM 1993 Levadiakos ₯25,000,000 1998 Georgios Theodoridis CB 1991 Doxa Markochori ₯5,700,000 1998 Midfielders Toni Savevski CM / LM / DM 1988 Vardar ₯34,000,000 1996 Refik Šabanadžović DM / CM / CB / RB 1991 Red Star Belgrade ₯18,700,000 1996 Temur Ketsbaia RM / LM / RW / LW / AM / CM 1994 Anorthosis Famagusta ₯100,000,000 1997 Vasilios Tsiartas (Vice-captain 2) AM / RM / LM / SS 1992 Naoussa ₯70,000,000 1997 Christos Maladenis CM / RM / LM / AM / DM / RW / LW / SS 1995 Skoda Xanthi ₯100,000,000 2000 Forwards Dimitris Saravakos RW / LW / SS / AM 1994 Panathinaikos Free 1997 Daniel Batista ST / SS / AM 1995 Olympiacos Free 1997 Vasilis Dimitriadis ST 1991 Aris ₯95,000,000 1998 Christos Kostis SS / ST / AM / RW / LW 1994 Iraklis ₯350,000,000 1998 Ilias Anastasakos ST / LW / LM 1995 A.O. Dafniou Free 2002 Left during Winter Transfer Window Georgios Agorogiannis RB / RM / RW 1992 AEL ₯35,000,000 1996 Stavros Stamatis DM / CM / CB / RB / LB / AM 1988 Charavgiakos ₯22,000,000 1996
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource EdessaikosLoan return30 June 1998 OFIFree transfer30 June 1998 Skoda Xanthi₯100,000,00030 June 2000 KavalaLoan return30 June 1998 OlympiacosFree transfer30 June 1997 PAS GianninaLoan termination31 December 1995 A.O. DafniouFree transfer30 June 2002
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 2005 AiolikosLoan return30 June 1997
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource Apollon AthensEnd of contract Neuchâtel XamaxFree transfer
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource PanioniosFree transfer IonikosFree transfer Agios DimitriosFree transfer
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource KavalaFree30 June 1996
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource 30 June 199530 June 1996 30 June 199530 June 1996 30 June 199630 June 1999 30 June 199530 June 1998 30 June 199530 June 1998 30 June 199630 June 2000 30 June 199530 June 1997 30 June 199630 June 1998
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: ₯100,000,000
Winter: ₯0
Total: ₯0
Income Summer: ₯0
Winter: ₯0
Total: ₯0
Net Totals Summer: ₯100,000,000
Winter: ₯0
Total: ₯100,000,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
Group 1
Matches
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
First round
Second round
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 alphabetically by surname. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupCup Winners' CupTotal126 6 032219 8 027310 9 120414 4 1195 1 4 056 3 1 04 2 1 148 3 0 03 1 2 0310 2 0 02 1 1 02 1 0 1213 1 0 01 0 1 01 0 0 11Own goals 3 1 04Totals 87 38 5130
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Daniel Batista Edessaikos 5–2 (A) 9 December 1995 Alpha Ethniki Vasilios Tsiartas Aris 4–0 (H) 4 February 1996 Alpha Ethniki Daniel Batista Athinaikos 5–0 (H) 28 February 1996 Greek Cup Vasilios Tsiartas Ionikos 6–0 (H) 10 March 1996 Alpha Ethniki Vasilios Tsiartas Apollon Athens 7–1 (A) 15 May 1996 Greek Cup Vasilios Tsiartas Athinaikos 6–0 (H) 26 May 1996 Alpha Ethniki
Assists
The list is sorted by competition order when total assists are equal, then by position and then alphabetically by surname. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupCup Winners' CupTotal112 2 0142 4 9 0133 9 1 0104 7 2 09 6 3 09 5 3 197 4 3 188 3 1 04 3 1 0410 2 1 0311 1 0 12 1 0 1213 0 1 01Totals5727 488
Clean sheets
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then alphabetically by surname. 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 CupCup Winners' CupTotal114 4 1192 1 1 02Totals15 5 121
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)444–2–1–31, 2, 6–3373–5–23–5, 34
Player Ilias AtmatsidisGKStelios Manolas (C)RCBNikos KostenoglouLCBVasilios BorbokisRBMichalis KasapisLBRefik ŠabanadžovićDMToni SavevskiCMTemur KetsbaiaAMVasilios TsiartasRWChristos KostisLWDaniel BatistaCF
Awards PlayerAwardSource Vasilios Tsiartas MF Alpha Ethiniki Top Scorer Demis Nikolaidis FW Greek Cup Top Scorer Vasilios Tsiartas MF Greek Player of the Season (shared) Temur Ketsbaia MF Foreign Player of the Season Dušan Bajević — Manager of the Season
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database