The 2022–23 season was the 99th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 62nd competitive season and eighth consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League and the Greek Cup. The season began on 20 August 2022 and finished on 24 May 2023.
Kits
Overview The end of the previous season found AEK at the worst point of their downward spiral in 5 years. The team had been far from winning a title and even failed to participate in any of the European competitions. In the midst of this heavy situation, the former international star, Matías Almeyda was hired as their new manager. "El Pelado", as was his nickname, had experience at the top level as a footballer and successful spells in Argentina and Mexico as a manager. The Argentine had great appetite for work and ambitions for conquering titles in his coaching debut in Europe. Having reached an agreement since the end of the previous season, he had the comfort of time and the ability to plan his team from the beginning without distractions. The management, having learned from the previous season's mistakes, showed a different mentality to the staffing of the club, both at competitive and at administrative level. Almeyda was given full charge of the team, while his non-negotiable request to be supported by his entire personal staff was also satisfied. In the summer transfer window, AEK moved dynamically and signed a series of international footballers, such as the Croatian defender Domagoj Vida, the Cameroonian defender Harold Moukoudi, the Danish midfielder Jens Jønsson, the Serbian midfielder Mijat Gaćinović, while the transfer of Steven Zuber became permanent. Other transfers that stood out as well, were those of the French former world champion, Djibril Sidibé, Niclas Eliasson, the last season's top scorer, Tom van Weert and most importantly, the loan of the Mexican international midfielder, Orbelín Pineda, a personal choice of the manager. At the same time, several players, with little to no contribution left the club with the exception of vice-captain, André Simões who after 7 years of service returned to his homeland. Furthermore, despite the huge anticipation of the fans for the upcoming opening of the Agia Sophia Stadium, a new state-of-the-art stadium, the opening was pushed back so that some final work could be completed. This delay forced AEK to play their first two home games at Georgios Kamaras Stadium since the management decided to leave the Olympic Stadium.
From early in the season AEK began to show signs of the team that Almeyda was preparing. Game by game, the team presented more and more of their style of play on the pitch that the Argentine manager was asking for. A game of dominance on the pitch, with suffocating pressure on the opposition all over the pitch and immediate possession recoveries whenever the ball was lost, with the team imposing themselves at every opponent regardless of their capacity and capabilities. A style that seemed foreign in Greek football which caught their opponents by surprise, forcing them to adjust their tactics and play in order to cope with the pressure of AEK.
On 30 September, in an emotionally charged opening ceremony, Agia Sophia Stadium opened its gates for the first time. At last AEK Athens found their home after 19 years, after the demolition of Nikos Goumas Stadium. Three days later, in the historic first match against Ionikos, AEK achieved an imposing 4–1 amidst cheers and celebrations by both crowd and club. Gacinovic opened the score for the first time in the new stadium in only six minutes in the game.
The performance of AEK improved as the season progressed, but they remained in second place in the standings, behind Panathinaikos. The image of the two teams gave the impression that their point difference was both fictitious and reversible. The difference peaked at 8 points, when all top-tier championships were interrupted, due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
With the resumption of the league, AEK went until the end of the regular season achieving only victories with the exception of three defeats. On 5 February, AEK became unwittingly involved in case that defamed Greek football. At Peristeri Stadium, just before the match against Atromitos, the players of AEK noticed a height difference in the horizontal beams of the two goals and informed the referee who confirmed the violation and as the rule dictated gave time to the home team to fix the problem. The attempts by the officials of Atromitos to dig the goal line to restore the height were of no success The inability to resolve the problem led to the departure of the referee and the teams. The case naturally went to courts, the disciplinary body of the Super League despite the rule, set a replay of the match, absolving the host Atromitos of any responsibility. Despite all that, AEK won the match and in the end went into the play-off round having reduced the points gap from Panathinaikos to just 2 points.
In the play-offs, the yellow-blacks continued their imposing performance against their opponents. With a summary of 7 wins, 3 goalless draws and the goal difference at 18–3, testified to their absolute dominance. Those performances included the 0–1 and 1–3 victories away from home against PAOK and Olympiacos respectively and an imposing 4–0 home win against the former. The title was eventually judged in the penultimate matchday, where AEK defeated Aris at Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, while at the same time Panathnaikos were defeated by Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium. Thus, on the final fixture, AEK, with a procedural 4–0 victory against Volos were crowned champions, with the award ceremony taking place inside their new stadium, and celebrations taking place throughout Nea Filadelfeia.
AEK began their obligations in the Cup in its single-leg fifth round, where they easily overcame the obstacle of PAS Giannina with a 2–0 home win. AEK showed depth in their roster and Almeyda's philosophy of having a "cup squad" that mainly consisted of substitutes. As in the previous season, in the round of 16 they faced A.E. Kifisia. With 2 easy wins at both legs the yellow-blacks were qualified for the quarter finals. There they faced Panserraikos, where again with easy wins at both legs AEK were qualified to the next round. The draw for the semi-finals brought AEK their first derby in the institution facing Olympiacos. In the first match at Nea Filadelfeia, Almeyda faithful to his tactics, used the "Cup squad", despite the theoretical difficulty of the match, causing the concerns of the crowd. Nevertheless, AEK stormed into the match and "suffocated" Olympiacos competitively, winning them by the imposing 3–0. In the replay match at Faliro, the red and whites, despite their greatest efforts, the best they could do was an honorary 2–1 win, which gave the qualification to the yellow-blacks. AEK were in the final of the Greek Cup for the 6th time in the last 8 years with PAOK being their opponent. The administration of the HFF, seemed unable to find a venue to host the final with many stadiums not only from Greece, but the rest of the world as possible candidates and everything seemed to be leading to a dead end. Eventually a solution was found and the final was set on 24 May at Panthessaliko Stadium. AEK once again came in imposing their game to the club of Thessaloniki. However, at the 6th minute the game changed as Lazaros Rota was sent-off, leaving AEK with 10 players for almost the entire duration of the match. The numerical disadvantage made the yellow-blacks defend for the rest of the game, while PAOK took the initiative. The defence of AEK was effective against their opponent and in the middle of the first half, the yellow-blacks took the lead with a header of Moukoudi. In the rest of the match the image remained the same, but in the final minutes, AEK scored another goal with a solo effort by Paolo Fernandes and finished the match. With the conquest of the Cup, AEK achieved their third domestic double in their history, starting a new wave of celebrations from the fans at Nea Filadelfeia.
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's arrival or exit is announced. Updated 24 May 2023, 23:00 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Cican Stanković GK 2021 Red Bull Salzburg €1,150,000 2025 30 Georgios Athanasiadis (Vice-captain 4) GK 2019 Asteras Tripolis Free 2025 Defenders 2 Harold Moukoudi CB 2022 Saint-Étienne Free 2026 3 Milad Mohammadi LB / LM / LW 2021 Gent Free 2025 12 Lazaros Rota RB / RM 2021 Fortuna Sittard Free 2026 21 Domagoj Vida CB / RB 2022 Beşiktaş Free 2024 24 Gerasimos Mitoglou CB 2021 Volos €300,000 2026 26 Ehsan Hajsafi LB / LM / LW / AM / CM / DM 2021 Sepahan Free 2025 29 Djibril Sidibé RB / LB / RM / CB 2022 Monaco Free 2024 31 Georgios Tzavellas CB / LB 2021 Alanyaspor €400,000 2023 Midfielders 4 Damian Szymański (Vice-captain) DM / CM / AM 2020 Akhmat Grozny 1,300,000 2027 6 Jens Jønsson DM / CM / CB 2022 Cádiz Free 2026 8 Mijat Gaćinović AM / CM / LM / LW / RM / RW 2022 Hoffenheim €1,000,000 2026 10 Steven Zuber (Vice-captain 3) LM / LW / AM / RM / RW / SS / ST 2022 Eintracht Frankfurt €1,600,000 2025 13 Orbelín Pineda AM / CM / LM / LW / RM / RW / SS / DM / RB 2022 Celta de Vigo Free 2023 14 Alexander Fransson CM / DM / AM / RM 2022 Norrköping Free 2023 19 Niclas Eliasson RM / LM / RW / LW 2022 Nîmes €2,000,000 2027 20 Petros Mantalos AM / LM / CM / LW / SS / RM / RW 2014 Xanthi €500,000 2024 22 Paolo Fernandes AM / RM / LM / RW / LW 2023 Volos €700,000 2027 25 Konstantinos Galanopoulos (Vice-captain 2) CM / DM 2015 AEK Athens U20 — 2024 Forwards 5 Nordin Amrabat RW / LW / RM / LM / AM / SS / ST 2021 Al Nassr Free 2023 7 Levi García ST / RW / RM / SS / LW / LM 2020 Beitar Jerusalem €2,600,000 2025 9 Tom van Weert ST / SS 2022 Volos €500,000 2024 11 Sergio Araujo (Captain) ST / SS / LW / RW 2021 Las Palmas €1,462,500 2024 53 Theodosis Macheras LW / RW / RM / LM 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2026 Left during Summer Transfer Window 17 Christos Albanis LW / RW / LM / RM / SS 2018 Apollon Smyrnis €400,000 2024 Left during Winter Transfer Window — Panagiotis Tsintotas GK 2017 Levadiakos Free 2023 From AEK Athens B 39 Panagiotis Ginis GK 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2023 61 Vasilios Chatziemmanouil GK 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2025 99 Georgios Theocharis GK 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2024 15 Žiga Laci CB 2020 Mura €400,000 2026 37 Vedad Radonja RB / LB / RM / DM 2020 Dinamo Zagreb U19 Free 2025 42 Ajdi Dajko CB / DM 2022 Asteras Tripolis Free 2025 44 Anel Šabanadžović CM / DM 2019 Željezničar €450,000 2023 46 Konstantinos Roukounakis DM / CM 2021 AEK Athens U19 — 2026 80 Georgios Moustakopoulos DM / CM / AM 2021 Panachaiki Free 2023 97 Judah García AM / LM / LW / CM 2021 NEROCA Free 2024 98 Giannis Fivos Botos AM / CM / LM / RM 2018 AEK Athens U19 — 2024 35 Michalis Kosidis ST 2021 AEK Athens U19 — 2026 70 Efthymis Christopoulos ST / SS / RW / LW 2020 AEK Athens U19 — 2023 72 Apostolos Christopoulos ST / SS 2021 AEK Athens U19 — 2024 82 Spyros Skondras LW / LM 2022 Panetolikos Free 2025 90 Zini ST / SS / LW / LM / RW / RM 2023 1º de Agosto €350,000 2028
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource2 Saint-ÉtienneFree transfer30 June 20266 CádizFree transfer30 June 20268 Hoffenheim€1,000,00030 June 20269 Volos€500,00030 June 202410 Eintracht Frankfurt€1,600,00030 June 202517 Apollon LimassolLoan return30 June 202419 Nîmes€2,000,00030 June 202721 BeşiktaşFree transfer30 June 202422 Volos€700,00030 June 202729 MonacoFree transfer30 June 202430 Sheriff TiraspolLoan return30 June 202340 AEK Athens BPromotion30 June 202653 IonikosLoan return30 June 202670 Go Ahead EaglesLoan return30 June 2024— Anorthosis FamagustaLoan return30 June 2022
Winter