The lost ground of the Greek players is AEK’s big difference from the 2018 championship

Winning the championship in 2018 was a historic moment for AEK as it was the only one they win outside of New Philadelphia aside from the 2-3 occasions when they were close or lost on paper and tied could. 24 years had passed since the last time, so this group will always be remembered as something special.

But what was so special about it? A very good group of Greek players, some of whom were at their peak and others managed to get into the fans’ minds as protagonists. Vassilis Barkas and Panagiotis Tsintontas, who by the way played the most games in the league at the time, 15 in total, under the goal posts!

Right – and left or as a stopper – in defense Michalis Bakakis played a great season, while Vassilis Lambropoulos was used in 18 league games as a regular player. In midfield, Kostas Galanopoulos dominated many games, with an excellent presence in the derbies. Panagiotis Kone perfectly completed the midfield trio (along with Simoes), while further up the field Lazaros Christodoulopoulos was having the season of his life and Tasos Bakasetas was emerging as an important and valuable cog.

Petros Mandalos was absent for most of the season through injury but he had contributed a great deal in the opening European games, as well as in the superb turnaround from 0-2 to 3-2 against Olympiakos, a game that was the starting point for the fantastic course of the Teams, inside and outside the borders. Giorgos Giakoumakis came on for the title goal in ”G. Karaiskakis” while Viktoras Klonaridis also assisted. How many? 11 the number…

Cast without Greeks in “Kleanthis Vikelidis”

In this particular area, AEK is currently ill. It doesn’t harm the image, it hasn’t harmed it, on the contrary, the arrivals of foreigners – including Paulo Fernandez who arrives in January – are going in the right direction.

The team finds its way and that is what counts. Of course, Greeks are always desirable, if not necessary. But now, some who are able to make a difference are thriving.

Eventually Djibril Sidibe will join the line-up, after all he was taken on for it. If Almeida decides it for Sunday, away against Aris, then the AEK line-up will start without the only Greek to start against Ionikos, Lazaros Rota: Stankovic, Sidibe, Mohammadi, Mukudi, Vida, Szymanski, Pineda. Gacinovic, Eliasson, Araujo, Garcia. Jonson should fit in somewhere too…

The Greeks will no longer be protagonists at AEK and will have to work hard and try to get a spot in the starting XI, even sporadically. And this again on a case-by-case basis. Rota and Galanopoulos must succeed as they have years in football ahead of them, as does Mitoglou, who started last year and is now fourth in the hierarchy.

Tzavellas will now be the third central defense solution in what may be the last season at Union. Mandalos should get used to the fact that he will mainly come off the bench. There’s also Athanasiadis, who needs to be ready when Stankovic is called on the bench. And that’s it…

Next come the little ones: Machiras, Kosidis, Moustakopoulos. All of them are far, far from getting any serious playing time, especially in championship terms or even second place, the cup or whatever is out there. AEK have been scrambling to add homegrown footballers to their squad over the summer with the prospect of becoming the main team. But it wasn’t possible.

He asked about Douvikas, he talked to Hatzidiakos, but first and foremost they didn’t want to go back to Greece. So for the future it will go to the foreign market unless there is a local small to medium team that will make a difference in the domestic league. A rarity in recent years, as well as in these, foreigners dominate…