AEK Athens Football Club are a professional football club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Athens, Greece. The club first participated in a European competition on 15 February 1961. The club has gained entry to Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions on multiple occasions. They have represented Greece in the European Cup (now the Champions League) on 14 occasions, the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) on 24 occasions, the Conference League once, in the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup on five occasions and in the now-defunct Inter-Cities Fairs Cup once. AEK have competed in every UEFA-organized competition, except the Intertoto Cup. They have also played in the now-defunct Balkans Cup on four occasions, where they reached its final in 1967.
AEK Athens are the first Greek club that reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1968–69, the first Greek club that participated in the UEFA Champions League in 1992–93 and the first Greek club that participated its first group stage of the in 1994–95. In 2002–03 season, they became the only club to have drawn all their matches in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, the only Greek club to have participated in the Champions League without losing a single match and the only club that has ever achieved six draws in six matches in a European competition. AEK Athens are the only Greek club to have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1976–77. AEK Athens are the only Greek club to have participated in the quarter-finals of all three European competitions at least once. AEK Athens is the only Greek club to have participated in the Europa League without losing a single match in 2017–18. They are the only Greek club to have advanced to the quarter-finals of European competitions 2 consecutive seasons in 1996–97 and 1997–98, the only Greek club to have advanced to the round of 16 in European competitions for 4 consecutive seasons in 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 and 1997–98 and the only Greek club to have advanced to the round of 16 in the Cup Winners' Cup for 3 consecutive seasons 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98. They are also the only Greek club to have advanced to the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup for 3 consecutive seasons in 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03. AEK Athens hold the domestic record of the longest unbeaten streak in UEFA competitions with 14 consecutive games.
History
First years The first appearance of AEK Athens in European competitions was in the Balkans Cup of the 1960–61 season alongside Steagul Roșu Brașov, Levski Sofia, Partizani Tirana and Fenerbahçe. After 4 matchdays, they achieved 1 win 1 draw and 2 defeats, and when Steagul Roșu Brașov secured the title, AEK withdrew from the tournament, with the remaining games being awarded to their opponents.
Having won the championship of 1963, AEK competed for the first time in their history in UEFA competitions, playing in the preliminary round of the European Cup in 1963–64 season. The draw brought them against the French champions, Monaco. The first appearance in a UEFA match quickly turned into a nightmare, as they faced a 7–2 defeat at Stade Municipal du Ray, with a four-goal performance by Lucien Cossou and the goals of Yvon Douis and Karimou Djibrill with the Greek side reducing with Kostas Nestoridis and Fanis Tasinos. The rematch in Athens was purely procedural, as 1–1 draw with Theofanidis and Théodore couldn't change anything in the qualification outcome, as it was secured by the Monegasques from the first match.
In 1964, they played their first match in a final stage of a UEFA competition, competing in the first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup, which were drawn against Dinamo Zagreb. At AEK Stadium, both clubs started scared and harsh, with the Yugoslavs playing unsportsmanlike, as to kill the game off, while AEK pressed unorthodoxly. Eventually, the yellow-blacks scored twice with Mimis Papaioannou and Kostas Nestoridis and the game ended 2–0, achieving their first victory in UEFA competitions. In the rematch at Stadion Maksimir, Dynamo played offensively and managed to win by 3–0, which left AEK out of the tournament.
During the 1966–67 season AEK played in 2 European competitions. The first was the Cup Winners' Cup, with their opponent for its first round being Braga, who made their debut appearance in European competitions. The performance of the club in both legs was not enough as they were eliminated by 2 defeats with 0–1, in Athens and 3–2 in Braga. The second competition was the Balkans Cup, where they were placed in the Group B alongside Vardar, Lokomotiv Sofia and Farul Constanța. There, the team of Jenő Csaknády managed to finish first, undefeated, with 3 wins all of them at home and 3 draws away from home and were qualified for the 2-legged final, facing Fenerbahçe. In the first game at Nea Filadelfeia, AEK won by 2–1 thanks to the goals of Papaioannou and Sofianidis and went to Istanbul to defend their slight lead. The Turks managed to equalize the lead of the first leg, winning by 1–0 and since the away goals rule was not applied in the tournament, a third match was set. In order for a free date for the match to be found, 7 months had to pass and at Mithat Paşa, AEK were defeated by 3–1 and a lost a great opportunity to win an international trophy.
The following season they competed again in the Balkans Cup and with 1 win, 2 draws and 3 defeats they finished third in their respective group, behind Spartak Sofia, Olimpija Ljubljana, tied with Fenerbahçe.
1968–69 European Cup quarter-finals campaign
As the 1968 champions, AEK played in the European Cup. The draw of the first round brought them against Jeunesse Esch. At Nea Filadelfeia, the yellow-blacks prevailed harder than the final 3–0 implied, with the goals of Papaioannou, Papageorgiou and Karafeskos and the rematch became purely procedural. At Luxembourg, the suspense of qualification didn't last long, since Ventouris equalized the quick goal of Hoffmann. AEK managed to take the lead with a second goal by Ventouris, but the players of Legrand showing character eventually turned the match again taking the victory. In the second round, AEK faced Akademisk Boldklub. At AEK Stadium, the yellow-blacks played defensively for the whole match and managed to take the draw by 0–0. In the rematch at Copenhagen, AEK started the match offensively and took the lead early on with Andreas Stamatiadis. The Danes started to press unbearably to equalize and the yellow-blacks took advantage of the open spaces left and played to extend their lead. Αt the 81st minute, after a cross by Sevastopoulos and Papaioannou beat everyone in the air and made the final 0–2. AEK became the first club in Greece to achieve an away victory in a European match and the first Greek team to reach the quarter-finals of a European competition. There, AEK avoided all the giants of the draw, as they faced Spartak Trnava. At the first match at Spartak Stadium, Branko Stanković set the team to maintain a favourable score for the rematch and despite withstanding the pressure by the Czechoslovaks, they conceded two goals with Jarábek and Kabát, but they managed to reduce their lead with Sevastopoulos and achieve their target. In the rematch at Athens, AEK seemed ready to take the qualification. Unfortunately, after a goal by Švec in the first half made the yellow-blacks chase the score, as the Czechoslovaks were closed behind. AEK attacked relentlessly, but the defense of Spartak seemed impenetrable, until Papaioannou managed to equalize. The team were left with only a few minutes to take the match to the extra time and despite their intensive pressure the ball eventually did not end up in the net and AEK were eliminated from the tournament achieving one of the greatest campaigns in their history.
Declining period and comeback
After an absence for a season from European football, in 1970 AEK Athens participated in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup for the first time in their history, drawing for its first round against the newly-formed Twente and were eliminated with 2 goalless defeats at both legs, with 1–0 at home and 3–0 away from home. Despite the club winning the championship of that season, the issues which appeared within the club marked the beginning of a declining period.
Nevertheless, in the first round of the 1971–72 European Cup, AEK faced the great Internazionale of Ivano Bordon, Giacinto Facchetti and Sandro Mazzola. In the first match at San Siro, AEK managed to take the lead with Pomonis, but Inter's superiority was obvious and turned the game to 4–1 with Jair, Mazzola, Facchetti and Boninsegna. In the rematch at AEK Stadium everything started wrong for the yellow-blacks, as they were left behind with a goal by Mazzola, but Bertini's dismissal brought AEK in taking the lead at the half time with Ventouris and Papaioannou. The nerazzurri, wanting if nothing else not to lose, chased the goal and equalized with Boninsegna and the players of AEK, realizing that the qualification was lost definitively, sought the victory and achieved it with a goal by Kostas Nikolaidis, that made the final 3–2. This victory was widely celebrated as it was one of the greatest in Greek football at the time, while Inter eventually reached the final of the tournament.
In 1972, AEK participated in the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. In the first round, they were drawn against the Salgótarján, where they easily prevailed with a 3–1 win at home and in a purely procedural rematch with a 1–1 draw away from home. In the second round, luck completely turned its back on AEK, bringing them against Liverpool of Bill Shankly. The first match at Anfield, the reds easily took the victory with 3–0 and finished the job with a 3–1 win in Athens, which sent them in the eventual conquest of the title.
As AEK were passing through their declining period, were out of claiming titles and were left out of the European competitions for 2 seasons. A new era begun at the club, when Loukas Barlos took over the presidency of the club and marked their return to European competitions in 1975. For the first round of UEFA Cup, AEK were drawn against Vojvodina and after the 0–0 away from home, they confirmed their superiority with the 3–1 win at home. In the second round, the draw brought AEK against Inter Bratislava, where they faced defeat by 2–0, while in the rematch at Nea Filadelfeia, the Czechoslovaks opened the score early on and even though the yellow-blacks turned the game, the three goals they scored, were not enough, as they were eliminated on away goals.
1976–77 UEFA Cup semi-finals campaign