“Final”“European Survival Match”“race do or die”. These are just some of the features that were given to AEK’s game against Ajax (December 14th, 10:00 p.m.) at the “Johan Cruyff Arena”. A game that was expected to be difficult from the start and that both teams had described as “key” to their European sequel.

AEK, on ​​the other hand, also failed to qualify in the Conference League with Jonsson’s four-four loss in the 90th minute of the home game against Ayantas.

As for Ajax, given the competitive and administrative problems they have faced since the start of the season, there is a question of hoping that they keep their luck in their hands until the final matchday of the Europa League.

The reasons to be optimistic given Ajax’s competitive and psychological mutation

It is true that, as contradictory as it may sound, AEK are lucky to be able to play their European future away. In the same period it has won European group games at home for 13 years, it has done so five wins away from home.

AEK’s away wins since 2010 in European groups:

• 2010: Hajduk Split – AEK (1-3)
• 2011: Sturm Graz – AEK (1-3)
• 2017: Rijeka – AEK (1-2)
• 2020: Zoria – AEK (1-4)
• 2023: Brighton – AEK (2-3)

Although the presence in the playoffs for entry into the “16” of the Europa Conference League goes beyond the field of the formed Ajax, Ayandas under John Van Sip has 6 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats with a score of 23 goals for and 13 against . AEK seems to have the know-how.

Football history owes her a great qualification in Amsterdam and she knows how to achieve it

Unlike the games in the “OPAP Arena”, which ultimately turn out to be frivolous and whose xGoals indicators are far from their offensive harvest, AEK “wears” the suit of efficiency away from home, at least as far as Europe is concerned.

In particular, he scored 4 goals against Brighton and Marseille, with the chances he created amounting to just over 2 (2.23 to be precise). At the same time, she has conceded 5 goals, 4 of which came from penalties, while the big chances she allows to her opponents in large areas are minimal.

Cynicism in European away games this season is therefore the main element that will counter AEK’s negative record of never having an Eredivisie team win in the Netherlands.

The 2017 guide and further links

Yes O Matias Almeida has to cope with many absences: Cican Stankovic, Mijat Gacinovic, Sergio Araujo, Ezequiel Ponce and Orbelin Pineda are out for various reasons, while Jens Jonsson and Levi Garcia are out of shape and not 100% fit.

Yes, Union has to fight for around ten days, the last game took place on April 12th. against Aris. Although she is rested, her lack of competitive rhythm is considered her minus point in the face of the “final” against Ajax, as she has to be doubly focused and find her footing in the first minutes of the game.

Yes, Manolo Jimenez’s AEK has absolutely nothing to do with Almeida’s AEK, because the days when the yellow and black played passive football are irretrievably over. Not because she can’t, but because she’s not used to driving at low speeds. However, this can also be the “key” to qualification, especially when you look back on 2017.

A week earlier (December 7th) 2017, AEK traveled to Vienna to face Austria, with the aim of continuing in the “32” of the Europa League, as the Conference League was not yet represented.

As on Thursday evening (December 14th, 10:00 p.m.), the Union were striving for two results, with the final 0-0 – after a game that did not bring any laurels in terms of quality – securing qualification for Jimenez’s team. Austria finished the game with no shots on goal as AEK managed to “hypnotize” them with their pace.

There are two connecting links between then and now. Kostas Galanopoulos and Sergio Araujo are the only survivors, with Petros Mandalo also in the squad but not in the squad for the game after tearing his cruciate ligament earlier in the season.

Your qualifications, my life

The connection between the two events doesn’t stop there, however, as the stakes of the inevitable elimination scenario also echo in AEK’s 2017 championship run.

Both that team’s players and their manager, Manolo Jimenez, argued that qualification had given them the energy and belief needed to reach the top of the Super League and take the title lead.

Prestige, increase in the market value of football players and financial losses, the qualification gives 300,000 euros + the money of the market pool and the coefficient ranking, which are added to the 630,000 euros of the victory or the 210,000 euros of the draw, is only a small part of the huge “must ”, which exists above the “yellow-black” organism.

However, improving the UEFA club rankings is more important. Currently AEK is in 141st place in the table with 3000 points this year, so in future draws it will not fall into a corresponding Champions League group, as is the case. The group is characterized by the difficulty of the Union in the Europa League.

However, what is really at stake is AEK’s home year, as relegation could bring introversion and cynicism to the club. The minor crisis that arose in the summer after Almeida’s team failed to secure participation in the Champions League is not far off.

Something that the entire organization, led by Dimitris Melissanidis, has bet a lot on, as it relies heavily on the European continuation this year for the future development of the team at competitive and commercial level.