Group Stage Fan Preview: AEK Athens

It’s been 12 years since AEK Athens’s last appearance in the Champions League. The Greek Champions have managed to beat Hungarian side Vidi and have now completed what certainly looks like a Football Manager save meets reality.

Flash back 6 years ago. AEK is dealing with serious financial struggles. The team is banned from signing players over the age of 21, whilst the board is nowhere to be seen, just like the players' wages in the bank accounts. News breaks out reporting that the teenage academy players - turned into starters - have no money at all, struggling to feed themselves, struggling to pay their rents. The fiasco finally comes to an end with AEK getting relegated for the first time in the team’s history. The new board decides to restart the team from the 3rd division in order to delete a great part of its debt. And so begins AEK’s lonely road to greatness.

After back-to-back promotions, AEK returned to the first division. The fans, the new owner that helped with the financial restart, the players, literally everyone connected with the team was eyeing only one thing: the Super League title. In the first season back with the “big boys," the team managed to win the Greek Cup, beating Greek giants Olympiacos. That was the first of the three consecutive cup final appearances. After some ups and downs, constant manager and roster changes, the scene was set for the 2017/18 season.

In the 2017/18 season, Salonika side PAOK and the AEK dueled to the very end for the league title, in an unforgettable contest for domestic supremacy. The two teams were neck and neck for the whole season, until hell broke out after a controversial goal was disallowed in the last derby of the season between these two; PAOK owner Ivan Savidis, stormed in to the pitch with a gun visibly attached to his belt. With AEK already 2 points ahead, and PAOK being penalized for the actions of Mr. Savidis, the title was sealed in the Athenians' favor. After 24 years, AEK sits at the lonely top of the champions mountain.