1998–99 AEK Athens F.C. season
AEK Athens F.C. competed for the 40th consecutive season in the Greek top flight and 75th year in existence as a football club. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season begun at 22 August 1998 and finished at 30 May 1999. Overview. The summer started with great ambition for the team, since the owner multinational company ENIC has all the time in front of it to proceed with transfers and build a strong team. Laki Nikolaou's management negotiates with strong names of coaches, gets close to  Joachim Löw, but eventually ends up with the experienced but controversial Dragoslav Stepanović. The important transfer was that of Vassilis Lakis, who was strongly claimed by Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and PAOK and also some other good transfers of Akis Zikos and Dimitris Markos took place, but the foreign players who came did not amuse and as a result the gap in the defensive line, which was left after the retirement of the long–time regular and club's captain, Stelios Manolas, was not filled. AEK starts mediocre, while at the same time Dimitris Melissanidis took over the management of the team . Stepanović started well, but it was obvious that he his presence was not convincing and was finally sacked after the 7th game. Takis Karagiozopoulos took over as caretaker coach for a while and then Oleg Blokhin is hired. In the cup, AEK was permaturely knocked out after they suffered a shock defeat in its first game from third–tier club, Poseidon Michanionas, with a terrible performance by the team. AEK finally builded a decent team, while in January it is strengthened a lot with the loans of Wreh and Méndez from Arsenal wthin the most important additions. In the end , AEK could not claim the championship from Olympiacos, but he manages to beat Panathinaikos the race of the second place that leads to the next season's Champions League qualifiers. AEK Athens' journey to Beligrade. In April 1999 by Dimitris Melissanidis' initiative, a friendly was organised match against Partizan in Belgrade, during the height of the NATO bombing of Serbia. As a gesture of compassion and solidarity towards the embattled Serbs, the AEK players and management staff defied the international embargo and traveled to Belgrade for the match. AEK's mission, alongside many political figures of the time such as  Manolis Glezos, arrived in the Serbian capital amid moving events by Serbs offering Greeks bread and salt, a symbol of Serbian hospitality. After a stop at the Presidential Palace where AEK conveyed the message of support of the Greek people, the team arrived at the Partizan stadium. About 15,000 fans of both teams were present, despite the fact that all 40,000 tickets that had gone on sale had been sold. The reason people were less than the sold tickets, was the fuel, as there was a shortage and transportation was very difficult. It is worth noting that this was the  first time since the beginning of the war that no sirens were heard during the day.The players of both teams entered the stadium together, holding a banner that read "NATO stop the war, stop the bombing". The game ended 1–1, when in the 68th minute thousands of Serbian football fans invaded the pitch to embrace the footballers. As was normal, this friendly game surpassed the geographical borders of Greece and Yugoslavia, being an object of admiration by the European Press. 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 30 June 1999, 23:59 UTC+3." Transfers. Loan out. Winter. Notes Overall transfer activity. Expenditure. Summer: ₯710,000,000 Winter: ₯0 Total: ₯710,000,000 Income. Summer: ₯0 Winter: ₯0 Total: ₯0 Net Totals. Summer: ₯710,000,000 Winter: ₯0 Total: ₯710,000,000 Statistics. Squad statistics. ! | Goalkeepers !| Defenders !| Midfielders !| Forwards !| Left during Winter Transfer Window Disciplinary record. ! | Goalkeepers !| Defenders !| Midfielders !| Forwards !| Left during Winter Transfer window