Ponce’s second stint with AEK in Europe is much more demanding than the first

When AEK sealed their return to the Champions League groups after twelve years under the leadership of Marinos Ouzounidis in the summer of 2018, Ezequiel Ponce was part of the team, albeit at the beginning of his career in Greece.

He was only present for a few minutes in this difficult qualification process, as he was only in the country for a short time and only appeared as a substitute.

He played just 13 minutes in the opening game (1-1) against Celtic in Glasgow, while not playing at all in the second leg (AEK’s 2-1 win in qualifiers). The two decisive matches with Vidy followed, in which he was also not used much. Just 4 minutes in the 2-1 win in Hungary and a further 28 minutes in the 1-1 win in Athens saw Union qualify for the group stage of the top club competition.

In the group games against Ajax, Benfica and Bayern Munich, Ponce was always a key player. However, AEK suffered six breakdowns and scored one goal in just one game, in a home defeat (2-3) against Benfica. Victor Klonaridis was the scorer of both goals.

The Argentine missed all six group games as Union, without four-match suspended Livaya, struggled to create scoring chances against clubs who were giants in their own league at the time.

Wednesday’s contract and the long-awaited goal

Of course, Ponce made a splash at national competitions wearing the AEK jersey in the only season he played for them before his return. He scored a total of 21 goals in the league and cup, numbers which made it very difficult to keep him within Greek borders despite Union attempts to persuade him.

He chose Spartak Moscow and since then his name has been discussed in several summer transfer windows. Finally, AEK brought him back this summer, expecting him to be a very strong Pole in the team’s attacking line.

The demands of the team’s European competitions are now much higher than before. Tomorrow begins the crucial second leg against Antwerp with the goal of returning to the groups of the top club competition.

The absence of Levia Garcia puts him in the spotlight as he will take on the role of the forward who will try to provide AEK with what he lacked in the last game against Panserraikos where he missed plenty of classic chances to win.

Of course, different requirements for a very well-organized defense and central defenders who combine experience and talent.

The Argentine striker has only played one game for the team, but against the Belgians. So now he has a clear picture of what’s coming and how he needs to move to score the goal. It will be his eleventh appearance in the yellow and black jersey in a European game where he is hoping for his first (or first) goal.