The 2007–08 season was the 84th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 49th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 15 August 2007 and finished on 14 May 2008.
Kits
Overview
In the summer of 2007, AEK strengthened their roster with many players with the more resounding transfer being that of Rivaldo, while also Blanco, Macho, Arruabarrena and Nsaliwa among others, joined the team, as the Spanish Serra Ferrer remained at their bench. The club sold 25,495 season tickets.
The draw of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League brought the Spanish Sevilla against AEK. AEK had a very positive presence at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, but lost with two goals in the second half. The rematch of Athens was overshadowed by the tragedy of the death of the Sevilla player, Antonio Puerta. UEFA postponed the game, ordering it to be played a week later. AEK welcomed Sevilla on the evening of September 3, lined up with full offensive orientations. They put a lot of pressure on Sevilla in the first twenty minutes, but a penalty by Júlio César put an end to any chances of qualification for AEK, who finally went on to the UEFA Cup with a heavy 1–4.
In the first round of the UEFA Cup, AEK were drawn with the Austrian Salzburg, which had now moved to the Red Bull group. In Athens, AEK took the lead early in the match and in the second half, AEK doubled the lead the goal-poem from Rivaldo with a mixture of volley and scissor-kick. Towards the end, AEK scored a third goal and gained a huge lead for the rematch. At the Red Bull Arena, Salzburg's goal put AEK in danger and by defending properly, kept the difference from the first leg and thus the qualification to the group stage. There they met Villarreal, Fiorentina, Mladá Boleslav and Elfsborg, where with 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss they finished third and advanced to the round of 32.
In the league, the yellow-blacks started the year strong by winning the first 6 matches and it took until the 7th match to have their first loss. They were also defeated by Asteras Tripolis in a match after which the vice-president, Nikos Koulis stated that AEK had the right to object to the illegal participation of the footballer of Asteras, Sokratis Fyntanidis, but such a move did not suit the mentality of AEK and so the matter did not proceed. Something that AEK would to find in front of them later in the season. Then 2 consecutive defeats in the middle of the season, left AEK well behind in the league race. On 3 February, Olympiacos lost to Apollon Kalamarias with 1–0. After the match, the red and whites found out that the player of Apollon, Roman Wallner had an irregular participation because he had already played in the same season in 2 teams and therefore did not have the right to play in a third one. The HFF nevertheless issued a report to the footballer. Olympiacos, who did not share the same morals as AEK, filed an objection and asked to win the match "on paper". The decision that came out ordered the replay of the match, which did not satisfy the Piraeus who appealed the decision.
In the Cup, AEK eliminated Fostiras of Daniel Batista in the round of 32. In the next phase, AEK faced Skoda Xanthi in a knockout game where, playing bad football, were eliminated with a 2–0 defeat. The people of the team disapproved of players, coach and management and 3 days later Serra Ferrer was sacked. The position of coach was taken over by his assistant and former footballer of the team, Nikos Kostenoglou.
AEK recovered competitively by making some victories, while Olympiacos, who rested on their high difference started throwing away points, but did not show that their top spot was seriously threatened. While the Wallner case was unfolding, the championship was coming to an end with Olympiacos losing their concentration and AEK covering up the difference. On 30 March, AEK beat Olympiacos with an emphatic 4–0 and got the upper hand on claiming the league. However, the decision of the Appeals Committee of the HFF ruled the game on paper in favor of Olympiacos and with their victory against AEL on the 27th matchday secured the championship. Apollon Kalamarias finally appealed to CAS, which considered itself incompetent, did not proceed with the examination of the case and the standings were validated since the championship had already ended. In the penultimate matchday against PAOK in Toumba Stadium, AEK played outstanding football and won easily by 0–4. In the last match against Asteras Tripolis, AEK honored Akis Zikos for his contribution to the club, while there was tension in the stands as the crowd wanted to honor the "champion" of that season, AEK who, however, would not lift the cup that afternoon. In Piraeus, however, they celebrated as if nothing had happened. Eventually the regular season ended with a message on the stadium matrix reading "Proud of AEK 2007–2008".
In the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup, AEK were drawn with the Spanish Getafe. Kostenoglou made a lot of changes in faces and the formation, but the team did not seem to respond. Getafe took the lead three minutes before the end and AEK reacted, closing the Spaniards in their area, reaching the equalizer with a rare beauty back-heel shot of Blanco. The second leg at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez was one of AEK's worst nights in European cups. Getafe chased the qualification and easily won with 3–0. AEK was unacceptable, passionless and indifferent and ended the month with exclusion from the European cups.
After the team were deprived of winning the league and without administrative reactions and collisions within the club, AEK went down to the play-offs under the shadow of the Wallner case. After the easy victory in the first game against Panionios, bad appearances followed, lackluster and with obvious internal problems in the team's performance. As it turned out later, many boardmembers and footballers did not even want to participate in the play-offs. AEK suffered great defeats at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium and Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium and with the last two matches being completely indifferent, the team finished third, where they should have been crowned champions.
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 14 May 2008, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 32 Marcelo Moretto GK 2007 Benfica €800,000 2008 50 Jürgen Macho GK 2007 Kaiserslautern €300,000 2009 84 Giannis Arabatzis GK 2002 Enosi Apostolou Pavlou €22,000 2011 Defenders 2 Edson Ratinho RB / RM / RW 2007 Mogi Mirim €350,000 2012 3 Rodolfo Arruabarrena LB 2007 Villarreal Free 2009 4 Geraldo Alves CB / RB 2007 Paços de Ferreira €300,000 2010 5 Traianos Dellas (Captain) CB 2005 Roma Free 2009 6 Georgios Alexopoulos CB / RB 2005 Egaleo Free 2010 14 Federico Azcárate CB 2007 Atlético Madrid B Free 2011 15 Sokratis Papastathopoulos CB / RB / LB / DM 2005 Apollon Petalidiou Free 2008 31 Nikolaos Georgeas (Vice-captain 3) RB / LB / DM 2001 Kalamata €1,500,000 2010 Midfielders 1 Pantelis Kafes (Vice-captain 2) CM / DM / AM / RM / LM 2007 Olympiacos Free 2010 8 Tam Nsaliwa DM / CM / CB 2007 Panionios €400,000 2010 10 Rivaldo AM / SS / LM 2007 Olympiacos Free 2009 11 Gustavo Manduca RM / AM / RW / LM / LW / CM / SS / ST 2007 Benfica €800,000 2010 16 Akis Zikos DM / CM 2006 Monaco Free 2008 19 Panagiotis Lagos LM / LW / LB / CM / DM 2006 Iraklis €900,000 2010 22 Panagiotis Kone AM / RM / LM / RW / LW / CM 2005 Lens U19 Free 2010 25 Vasilios Pliatsikas DM / CM / RB / CB 2005 Chaidari Free 2010 27 Christos Bourbos RM / RB / LM / LB / RW / DM 2004 PAS Giannina Free 2008 34 Panagiotis Tachtsidis CM / DM / AM 2007 AEK Athens U20 — 2010 80 Georgios Tofas AM / RM / LM 2007 Enosis Neon Paralimni Free 2010 88 Dániel Tőzsér AM / CM / DM / LM 2006 Ferencváros €150,000 2010 Forwards 7 Charilaos Pappas RW / LM / LW / SS 2007 Olympiacos Free 2009 9 Pantelis Kapetanos ST / RW 2006 Iraklis €400,000 2011 18 Ismael Blanco ST / SS 2007 Colón €450,000 2008 20 Manú RW / RM / LW / LM 2007 Benfica Free 2008 23 Mohamed Kallon ST / SS / LW 2008Free agent Free 2008 33 Nikos Liberopoulos (Vice-captain) SS / ST / AM 2003 Panathinaikos Free 2009 36 Edinho ST / SS / RW 2008 Vitória de Setúbal €150,000 2008 83 Michalis Pavlis SS / ST / RW / LW 2006 AEK Athens U20 — 2011 99 Júlio César LW / SS / AM / RW / ST 2005 Gil Vicente €540,000 2009 Left during Winter Transfer Window 81 Xenofon Panos RB / RM / LB 2007 AEK Athens U20 — 2011 89 Nikos Barboudis RB / CB 2007 Ilisiakos €60,000 2010 24 El Hadji Diouf AM / CM 2007 Xam-Xam Free 2011 56 Përparim Hetemaj CM / DM / AM / RM / LM / RW / LW 2006 HJK Helsinki €450,000 2010
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource2 Mogi Mirim€350,00030 June 20123 VillarrealFree transfer30 June 20094 Paços de Ferreira€300,00030 June 20107 OlympiacosFree transfer30 June 20108 Panionios€400,00030 June 201010 OlympiacosFree transfer30 June 200911 Benfica€800,00030 June 201014 Atlético Madrid BFree transfer30 June 201124 Xam-XamFree transfer30 June 201127 KerkyraLoan return30 June 201034 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 201050 Kaiserslautern€300,00030 June 200980 Ethnikos PiraeusLoan return30 June 201081 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 201189 Ilisiakos€60,00030 June 2010— Anagennisi KarditsaLoan return30 June 2010— Anagennisi KarditsaLoan return30 June 2008— Ethnikos PiraeusLoan return30 June 2011— Anagennisi KarditsaLoan return30 June 2008— NY Red Bulls AcademyFree transfer31 December 2010— Anagennisi KarditsaLoan return30 June 2010— Niki VolosLoan return30 June 2011— Ethnikos PiraeusLoan return30 June 2010
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource23 Free agentFree transfer30 June 2008— PanachaikiLoan termination30 June 2009— Anagennisi KarditsaLoan termination30 June 2010
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource4 BolognaEnd of contract5 LevanteContract termination7 AEL€225,00011 BenficaLoan return13 Club OlimpiaContract termination14 Omonia NicosiaEnd of contract17 ArisContract termination22 KerkyraEnd of contract23 PAOKContract termination25 APOELEnd of contract79 Arminia BielefeldEnd of contract— A.O. Nea IoniaContract termintion— IraklisContract termintion
Loan in
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource18 Colón€450,00030 June 200820 BenficaFree30 June 200832 Benfica€800,00030 June 2008
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource36 Vitória de Setúbal€150,00030 June 2008
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource28 Recreativo de Huelva€340,00030 June 200890 PanachaikiFree30 June 2008— Anagennisi KarditsaFree30 June 2008— Anagennisi KarditsaFree30 June 2008— A.O. Nea IoniaFree30 June 2008— Anagennisi KarditsaFree30 June 2008— A.O. Nea IoniaFree30 June 2009— A.O. Nea IoniaFree30 June 2008— Anagennisi KarditsaFree30 June 2008— Anagennisi KarditsaFree30 June 2009— PanetolikosFree30 June 2008
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource24 IlisiakosFree30 June 200856 Apollon KalamariasFree30 June 200881 A.O. Nea IoniaFree30 June 200989 FostirasFree30 June 2008— LamiaFree30 June 2008— A.O. Nea IoniaFree30 June 2008— AcharnaikosFree30 June 2008
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource5 30 June 200730 June 20096 30 June 200830 June 201031 30 June 200830 June 201084 30 June 200730 June 2011
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: €3,460,000
Winter: €150,000
Total: €3,610,000
Income Summer: €565,000
Winter: €0
Total: €565,000
Net Totals Summer: €2,895,000
Winter: €150,000
Total: €3,045,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Super League Greece
Regular season
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Play-offs
Table
Results summary