2015–16 AEK Athens F.C. season

The 2015–16 season was the 92nd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 55th season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League and the Greek Cup. The season began on 22 August 2015 and finished on 31 May 2016.

Kits









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Overview
AEK Athens finally returned in Super League after 2 years of absence. The team experienced radical changes over the summer. The major signings were André Simões from Moreirense, Rodrigo Galo, Venezuela internationals, Ronald Vargas and Alain Baroja as a loan from Caracas, Dídac Vilà from Milan and Diego Buonanotte, who hundreds of AEK fans welcomed at the airport. The transfers also included the return of Rafik Djebbour after 4 years.

AEK started the championship well, but after a 4–0 defeat from Olympiacos on 20 October, Traianos Dellas resigned as coach after 2 and a half years at the team's bench, with the U20 coach, Stelios Manolas taking over as an interim coach, until a new coach was found. On 29 October, the Uruguayan Gus Poyet reached an agreement with the club and on 30 October signed a contract until the summer with renewal option for two years, a discussion that would take place towards the end of the period. Poyet managed to change the atmosphere within the team and lead the club to an unbeaten streak spanning from the start of 2016 until February. The team picked up 3 important derby wins against PAOK, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos at home all by 1–0 win, with Vargas being the scorer. After a defeat against Atromitos at Peristeri Stadium incidents occurred between the fans. That resulted in the team to be punished with a 3-point deduction and combined with the defeats that AEK suffered in the away games of the final matchdays, resulted in losing the second place and eventually finishing 3rd in the league. Even though the team's well performance, on 19 April Poyet was sacked, due to conflicts with Dimitris Melissanidis, mainly focusing the club's ambitions and budget.

In the cup, AEK easily passed through their respective group finishng first and eliminated Levadiakos for the round of 16 and Iraklis for the quarter-finals, winning all their games. In the semi-finals they faced Atromitos and with Manolas who had replaced Poyet and was appointed as interim coach until the end of the season, they qualifyed for the cup final, with a 1–0 at home and 1–1 away from home. On 17 May at the Olympic Stadium, AEK made clear of their strong comeback, as they beat the champion Olympiacos by 2–1 for the second time within 3 months and lifted the trophy for 15th time in their history. The same night, celebrations were organised at Nea Filadelfeia by fans, who celebrated with the players and staff.

After the conquest of the cup, Manolas did not sit on the bench of the team again due to overwork, with his assistant, Nikos Panagiotaras sitting in his place. In the play-offs the team did not capitalise on their form in the cup and facing the fatigue that was built up, achieved a 3rd-place finish, thus qualifying for the 3rd qualifying round in the next season's UEFA Europa League.

Management team

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Events

 * 30 January 2015 Before the campaign was over, André Simões agreed to a two-year contract with AEK Athens which was made effective on 1 July.
 * 13 May 2015 Rodrigo Galo signed a two-year contract with AEK Athens.
 * 10 June 2015 AEK Athens gets promoted to the Super League.
 * 11 June 2015 Stavros Vasilantonopoulos joins AEK Athens from Apollon Smyrnis for 2+1 years.
 * 17 June 2015 Rafik Djebbour joins AEK Athens from APOEL for 1+1 year.
 * 16 July 2015 Alain Baroja joins AEK Athens from Caracas on a 1-year loan.
 * 7 August 2015 Dídac Vilà joins AEK Athens for 2+1 years.
 * 20 October 2015 Traianos Dellas quits as AEK Athens coach after $2 1/2$ years.
 * 21 October 2015 Stelios Manolas AEK Athens' under-20 coach will take up the post on an interim basis until a new coach is found.
 * 29 October 2015 Gus Poyet reached an agreement with AEK Athens.
 * 30 October 2015 Gus Poyet sign contract with AEK Athens The agreement is until the summer of 2016 with a two-year renewal option, a discussion that will take place towards the end of the period.

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 31 May 2016, 23:59 UTC+3.''

Expenditure
Summer: €160,000

Winter: €0

Total: €160,000

Income
Summer: €0

Winter: €0

Total: €0

Net Totals
Summer: €160,000

Winter: €0

Total: €160,000

Squad statistics
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window


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Clean sheets
''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.''

Disciplinary record
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers

! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders

! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders

! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards

! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer window


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