A strange and ultimately unsuccessful season for AEK, who failed to handle the outcome of the previous season's Wallner case,[1] mainly at the administrative level, but also at the financial level. The president, Demis Nikolaidis, decided to put his resignation at the disposal of the shareholders of the club, but he proceeded with fundamental changes in both the roster and the technical leadership of the team. He spent a lot of money, in order to change the balance in dressing room by essentially releasing the captains, Dellas and Liberopoulos and selling the talented Papastathopoulos to Genoa. He even proceeded with very expensive transfers for the club's standards, especially with that of Rafik Djebbour from Panionios, who spent the record amount of 3,200,000 euros. Alonsgside Djebbour, AEK also proceeded in the transfers of Kyrgiakos, Basinas, Majstorović, Saja, Pelletieri, Burns, Geraldo Alves and Juanfran, but the one who stood out was that of Ignacio Scocco, which was also the highest quality transfer during the Nikolaidis presidency. The most debatable choice of Nikolaidis was the hiring of Georgios Donis for the position of coach, since Donis had only worked with teams of a lower magnitude, where there wasn't the high pressure of the league race. The club sold 18,200 season tickets.
For the UEFA Cup, AEK were drawn with Cypriot Omonia and seemingly seemed the absolute favorite for the qualification. Donis, trying to change AEK's playing philosophy from the previous seasons, tried to implement an unattractive football model and very soon AEK paid the price. In Athens, Omonia, with a lucky goal towards the end of the first half, took the lead and finally got the victory against the unrecognizable and lazy AEK. AEK in the last match of Rivaldo, who in the following days surpisingly left for Bunyodkor from Uzbekistan, did not react at any point of the match, unable to produce phases and reduced to meaningless possession. The completely wrong approach and preparation of the match by Donis and his footballers made the task of AEK very difficult out of nowhere. The disaster for AEK was completed in the second leg at GSP Stadium, where spirited and tough Omonia limited them again, taking the lead in the score and despite being equalized by AEK did not lose control of the match, regaining the lead in the second half and only AEK managed to avoid the second defeat, equalizing at the end of the match. The disastrous exclusion from Europe effectively put AEK out of financial plans, which increased introversion and essentially forced Nikolaidis to leave earlier than the end of his presidency as he had informed the shareholders from the beginning of the summer.
AEK started the championship with a great victory, winning 2–1 against the newly rich Panathinaikos of the "multi-shareholder" era, but the continuation was disappointing. A series of 4 unsuccessful results brought Donis near to the exit door. On the 8th matchday amid heavy disapproval, AEK beat Asteras Tripolis with two goals in stoppage time at the Olympic Stadium and after the end of the match, Nikolaidis resigned implicitly attributing responsibilities to the ultras of the club.[2] Donis was already fully exposed and the pressure appeared with yet another draw in Skoda Xanthi and along with a draw with Panserraikos at home, he resigned.[3] The remaining management, Kanellopoulos and Koulis,[4] believing that the team needed a great personality, hired Dušan Bajević, with the intention to turn him into general manager of AEK.[5] The shareholders, after a final rift between them, decided to appoint Giorgos Kintis to the presidency, who immediately offered AEK a shop instead of one euro, as long as the prospective buyer took over the settled debts of the team, as well as the heavy opening of 15 million euros from the expensive transfer moves of the summer. No one appeared except for a written statement of intent by Dimitris Melissanidis and AEK continued with the internal upheavals being indescribable. Bajević had an indifferent season, which he also attributed to a lack of confidence in himself and was asking for big investments to be able to watch Olympiacos and Panathinaikos matches. Kintis, after a month and a half, being at a dead end and advocating a completely different philosophy from Bajević, resigned, Kanellopoulos resigned and left his shares to the Amateur AEK with Koulis following the same path. Nikos Thanopoulos, the chosen of the then major shareholder, Nikos Notias, took over as president after intense back-and-forth. And while the season was heading towards an unremarkable close, Bajević seemed to lack confidence in his players and was more concerned with management reshuffles than the team. So AEK ended the season with many draws, unattractive football and in fourth place behind Olympiakos, PAOK and Panathinaikos and without a competitive identity entered the play-offs with just one point, starting from a disadvantageous position .
The activities in the Cup started with a near exclusion from Ilisiakos who were left with 10 players and AEK taking the qualification in extra time. In the next phase against Kerkyra AEK were qualified with an amazing goal by Scocco in the 89th minute. In the quarter-finals, AEK's opponent was Skoda Xanthi, from who were lost 2–1 away, but managed to qualify thanks to a header from Blanco in the rematch. AEK easily qualified for the final after overcoming the obstacle of Panserraikos. The final that the club and the fans needed, especially against a great rival like Olympiacos, was ahead. On May 2, the best Cup final in the history of Greek football took place. AEK got off to a magical start, taking a 2–0 lead, thanks to two great goals from Blanco, but were leveled by goals from Derbyshire and Dudu. In the 90th minute, the class of Ignacio Scocco spoke, who passed everyone in front of him and perfectly shot past Nikopolidis. AEK, affected by the Argentine's superb goal, did not handle the stoppage time as needed and were leveled again by Derbyshire in the 96th minute. The game went to overtime, where AEK were shocked and conceded a fourth goal in the 102nd minute from Galletti. However, Ignacio Scocco in the 108th minute, again with a goal of rare beauty, equalized once more for AEK with the two teams going to the penalty shootout. So after 32 penalties and the score having reached the admirable 15–14, the final ended with the Olympiacos being crowned as the cup winner.[6]
The play-offs started with ambition for AEK, who despite not winning the Cup, seemed determined to chase the position that led to the Champions League qualifiers. Indeed, until the last game AEK was the favorite along with Panathinaikos and the first place would be decided in the derby between them. Panathinaikos appeared more ready and determined and beat AEK by 0–2, which ended the season, without managing to return in the beficial qualifiers of the Champions League.[7]
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 31 May 2009, 23:59 UTC+3.
Source: Super League Greece Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Play-offs (neutral ground). (Note: Criterion 4 is only used if needed to decide champion, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).[50]
Source: Super League Greece and Worldfootball.net Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal, then by shirt number and then alphabetically by surname. Clean sheets in games where both goalkeepers participated are awarded to the goalkeeper who started the game. Goalkeepers with no appearances are not included.
