The 2000–01 season was the 77th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 42nd consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 6 August 2000 and finished on 26 May 2001.
Kits
Overview
The season started with the multinational companies NetMed and ENIC at the wheel, with Cornelius Sierhuis and Petros Stathis in charge. Giannis Pathiakakis, having finished the previous season strongly, took charge of the club's transfer activity, with a relatively good budget at his disposal. After a scouting trip to Latin America, he brought Fernando Navas, Emanuel Ruiz and Ferrugem to the club, but the biggest signings were those of Greek footballers. Vasilios Tsiartas returned from Sevilla after four years, while Theodoros Zagorakis returned from England to wear the colours of AEK Athens.
In the first round of the UEFA Cup, AEK were drawn against the Hungarian Vasas. At Ferenc Puskás Stadium, AEK appeared sluggish, but at the beginning of the second half, they came to life and quickly scored twice. However, their complacency returned later in the match, allowing Vasas to equalise with two goals in the final minutes. In the rematch at Nikos Goumas Stadium, AEK led by Maladenis who scored a goal and won a penalty that was converted by Nikolaidis made the 2–0 in the first half hour, which remained as the final score. The next opponent for the yellow-blacks were Herfølge from Denmark. In the first leg in Athens, Nikolaidis put on an outstanding performance, scoring four goals, while Zikos added another with a fine shot as AEK achieved an emphatic victory. In the second leg, the Danes took an early lead, with AEK equalising soon afterwards. In the second half, Herfølge regained the lead from the penalty spot and the match ended in a defeat for the Greek club. In the round of 32, AEK faced a much more difficult challenge, being drawn against Bayer Leverkusen, who were top of the Bundesliga. In the first match at BayArena, AEK took the lead early on, but then conceded two goals. However, AEK pressed and equalized, only for Bayer to regain the lead at 3–2. The yellow-blacks equalised again from the penalty spot and, in the 79th minute, took a 4–3 lead. Although the Germans continued to apply heavy pressure, AEK's defence held out until the final minutes, when they conceded an equaliser in a 4–4 draw. The rematch at Nikos Goumas Stadium on 7 December was an even more impressive night for AEK who scored at the beginning of the match, while in the second half they doubled their lead with a direct free kick, securing a memorable victory and one of the most important qualifications in the club's European history. In the round of 16, things became more difficult since AEK were drawn against Barcelona of Rivaldo, Kluivert, Overmars, Luis Enrique, Guardiola and De Boer. In the first leg at Nea Filadelfeia in a fantastic atmosphere, AEK stood up well, but a mistake by the defense in the 42nd minute was enough for Barcelona to open the score, which remained until the end of the match. In the rematch at Camp Nou, the Greek club entered strongly, but Barcelona did not panic and crushed the yellow-blacks with 5–0 and ended their European run.
In the Cup, AEK initially played in a group alongside Panathinaikos, AEL, Ethnikos Piraeus, Kozani and Olympiacos Volos, where they finished second behind Panathinaikos and advanced to the next round. There they were drawn against Olympiacos. The first leg that took place in Nea Filadelfeia, AEK started well and took the lead through Nikolaidis. However, the referee blew for a foul to a tackle by Zikos, where the ball ended up to Nikolaidis, went on to score another goal. Zikos protested and the referee sent him off with a second yellow. Amid the chaos that followed the referee expelled Nikolaidis as well with a straight red. With AEK down to nine men, Olympiacos equalised and the increasingly tense atmosphere in the stands grew more hostile, Petros Stathis made a decision that would mark the history of the club. Following a whispering by Stathis to Pathiakakis, three players of AEK fell down pretending to be injured. The ultras of AEK broke the barriers and invaded the pitch, resulting in the match being abandoned and the red and whites being awarded a 2–0 victory without a match. In the rematch Pathiakakis made a controversial decision, using a mixture of substitutes and regulars in the starting lineup in another nightmare evening for AEK, who suffered a 6–1 defeat. After the match, Pathiakakis left AEK.
In the league, AEK made a mediocre start, although their morale improved during their European campaign, particularly after their qualification against Bayer Leverkusen. The major problems, however, emerged with a 4–1 defeat to Olympiacos in the league, while AEK suffered another psychological blow with their eventual elimination from the Cup by the same opponents. After the departure of Pathiakakis, Toni Savevski retired as a footballer and he "overnight" took charge as the club's manager, forming a managerial duo with Eugène Gerards. However, AEK were unable to salvage much from the season, finishing in third place, 17 points from the top.
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 26 May 2001, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Ilias Atmatsidis (Captain) GK 1992 Pontioi Veria ₯40,000,000 2002 15 Chrysostomos Michailidis GK 1997 Eordaikos Free 2005 22 Dionysis Chiotis GK 1995 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 Defenders 2 Traianos Dellas CB 1999 Sheffield United Free 2002 3 Ferrugem CB / DM 2000 Palmeiras Free 2005 5 Nikos Kostenoglou CB / RB 1994 Skoda Xanthi ₯70,000,000 2003 12 Charis Kopitsis RB / RM / LB / LM 1992 Panionios Free 2001 16 Nikolaos Georgeas RB / LB / DM 2001 Kalamata ₯500,000,000 2004 17 Michalis Kasapis (Vice-captain 2) LB / LM 1993 Levadiakos ₯25,000,000 2002 19 Grigoris Toskas CB 2000 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 21 Vaios Karagiannis LB / CB 1990 A.O. Karditsa ₯11,000,000 2001 27 Hernán Medina CB / DM 2001 Boca Juniors ₯100,000,000 2001 31 Christos Pitos CB / DM / CM 2001 Naoussa Free 2006 32 Michalis Kapsis CB 1999 Ethnikos Piraeus ₯80,000,000 2003 Midfielders 6 Theodoros Zagorakis CM / DM / AM / RM / CB / RB 2000 Leicester City Free 2003 7 Christos Maladenis CM / RM / LM / AM / DM / RW / LW / SS 1995 Skoda Xanthi ₯100,000,000 2003 10 Vasilios Tsiartas (Vice-captain 3) AM / RM / LM / SS 2000 Sevilla ₯1,100,000,000 2003 14 Akis Zikos DM / CM 1998 Skoda Xanthi ₯130,000,000 2002 18 Giorgos Passios DM / CM / CB 1997 AEK Athens U20 — 2003 23 Vasilios Lakis RM / RW / AM / CM / RB 1998 Paniliakos ₯320,000,000 2003 24 Dimitris Karameris CM / DM 2000 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 26 Bledar Kola LM / CM / DM / LB 2001 Panathinaikos Free 2003 28 Milen Petkov DM / CM / AM / RM / LM 2000 CSKA Sofia ₯260,000,000 2003 33 Fernando Navas LM / AM / RM 2000 Boca Juniors ₯700,000,000 2005 Forwards 9 Christos Kostis SS / ST / AM / RW / LW 2000 Anderlecht Free 2001 11 Demis Nikolaidis (Vice-captain) ST / SS 1996 Apollon Athens ₯330,000,000 2004 20 Sotiris Konstantinidis RW / LW / RM / LM / AM 1999 Iraklis Free 2004 30 Emanuel Ruiz SS / ST / RW 2000 Boca Juniors Free 2005 Left during Winter Transfer Window 4 Diyan Donchev LB / CB 2000 Spartak Varna ₯200,000,000 2003 — Georgios Paraskevaidis CB 2000 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 8 Toni Savevski CM / LM / DM 1988 Vardar ₯34,000,000 2001 25 Luis Darío Calvo AM / LW 2000 Banfield Free 2002
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource3 PalmeirasFree transfer30 June 20054 Spartak Varna₯200,000,00030 June 20036 Leicester CityFree transfer30 June 20039 AnderlechtFree transfer30 June 200110 Sevilla₯1,100,000,00030 June 200319 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 200522 ProodeftikiLoan return30 June 200524 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 200530 Boca JuniorsFree transfer30 June 200533 Boca Juniors₯700,000,00030 June 2005— Ethnikos PiraeusLoan return30 June 2001— AthinaikosLoan return31 December 2005
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource16 Kalamata₯500,000,00031 December 200419 PanathinaikosFree transfer30 June 200431 Naoussa₯5,500,00030 June 2006— Spartak VarnaFree transfer30 June 2004
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource6 ArisContract termination9 Fortuna SittardContract termination10 BarcelonaLoan return16 LokerenEnd of contract18 OFIContract termination24 Red StarEnd of contract25 Ethnikos AsterasEnd of contract27 RomaLoan return29 VicenzaLoan return30 Central CórdobaContract termination— Apollon KalamariasEnd of contract
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource4 Spartak VarnaContract termination8 Retired
Loan in
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource25 Boca JuniorsFree30 June 2002
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource27 Boca Juniors₯100,000,00030 June 2001
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource19 KalamataFree30 June 200122 KilkisiakosFree30 June 200131 KalamataFree30 June 2001— Agios NikolaosFree30 June 2001— PanetolikosFree30 June 2001
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource25 KalamataFree30 June 2001— PanioniosFree30 June 2001— AthinaikosFree30 June 2001
a. On 28 December 2001, FIFA awarded Palmeiras the fee of ₯650,000,000, as compensation, due to the player's free transfer upon his contract's expiration.
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource15 30 June 200230 June 200521 30 June 200030 June 2001
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: ₯2,650,000,000
Winter: ₯105,500,000
Total: ₯2,755,500,000
Income Summer: ₯0
Winter: ₯0
Total: ₯0
Net Totals Summer: ₯2,650,000,000
Winter: ₯105,500,000
Total: ₯2,755,500,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
Group 6
Matches
Round of 16
UEFA Cup
First round
Second round
Third round
Fourth round
Statistics
Squad statistics
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="13" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards
! colspan="13" 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 by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupUEFA CupTotal11115 4 62521014 3 21920 811 019423 2 6 19533 2 3 38630 5 2 077 2 4 17828 4 0 15925 0 4 041014 2 0 139 1 2 03122 1 0 015 1 0 0132 1 0 0117 1 0 016 1 0 01Own goals 1 0 12Totals 61 40 16112
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Sotiris Konstantinidis Kozani 5–2 (H) 6 August 2000 Greek Cup Demis Nikolaidis4 Ethnikos Piraeus 8–0 (H) 17 August 2000 Greek Cup Vasilios Lakis Olympiacos Volos 9–1 (H) 6 September 2000 Greek Cup Demis Nikolaidis4 Herfølge 5–0 (H) 26 October 2000 UEFA Cup Sotiris Konstantinidis Panionios 5–1 (H) 1 April 2001 Alpha Ethniki
Assists
The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupUEFA CupTotal11018 4 426217 3 1 37330 3 2 16411 4 1 0523 3 2 05620 3 1 047 2 2 0433 1 2 1498 0 3 031025 0 2 021114 1 0 013 0 1 0112 0 1 014 0 1 0119 0 1 01Totals3824 971
Clean sheets
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then by squad number. Clean sheets in games where both goalkeepers participated are awarded to the goalkeeper who started the game. Goalkeepers with no appearances are not included.