2001–02 AEK Athens F.C. season

The summer of 2001 found AEK Athens once again in the midst of great administrative and financial problems. The multinationals ENIC and Netmed were searching all summer for interested parties to buy the or take over the management of the club. Eventually, the controversial businessman and well-known from his past in the basketball team, Makis Psomiadis, through the company "Ippoventure", became the new boss of AEK.[1] Psomiadis initially put in the position of president his friend and businessman, Filon Antonopoulos and later his cousin, Charilaos.[2] In the competitive part, however, Psomiadis seemed to be quite capable, as he brought Fernando Santos as the new coach and added to the roster, the Paraguayan international defender, Carlos Gamarra, on loan from Flamengo.

AEK started the championship very well and from an outsider they slowly became a favorite for the title, with Santos demonstrating a disciplined and well-done team. However, 3 consecutive defeats in January suddenly made the situation very difficult and the first problems in the Psomiadis-Santos relations begun. Nevertheless the team continued well and competed with Olympiacos for the title until the end. Eventually, on 20 April, in a match that was deemed as "final" for the penultimate matchday at the Olympic Stadium, Olympiacos won by 4–3 and conclusively AEK lost the title in a draw with 58 points each.

In the first round of the UEFA Cup, AEK had a theoretically easy task, having to face the weak Grevenmacher from Luxembourg. The first match took place at Nea Filadelfeia and AEK were storming. The 2 goals in the first half by Tsiartas and Zagorakis and another 4 in the second half by Nikolaidis and Lakis, gave an impressive victory to the yellowblacks. The crowd was extremely satisfied and the rematch was of a formal procedure. In the rematch in Luxembourg AEK didn't struggle at all with 1 goal in each half with Lakis and Konstantinidis, while also missing plenty of chances. The majority of AEK's fans at the stadium was remarkable. In the second round, AEK found the obstacle of the Scottish Hibernian. The first match was played in Athens and in front of about 18,000 people, AEK won a penalty with Georgeas at the 55th minute and Tsiartas capitalized on it. In the 68th minute, a header by Nikolaidis made it 2–0 and gave AEK a good score for the second match. It was worth noting that with this goal, Demis Nikolaidis reached 17 goals for the UEFA Cup and became the Greek top scorer of all time for this competition. At the Easter Road, Hibernian pressed AEK, who were lucky to draw the first half 0–0. However, in the second half, 2 goals by Luna equalized the score of the first match and the game went to extra-time, where Tsiartas showed his class and with 2 personal goals with a shot and a direct corner kick, gave AEK the qualification. All the Scots managed to do was to score a third goal 5 minutes before the end of extra-time, getting an honorable victory with 3–2. In the third round, the draw again favored AEK, who found in front of them another "passable" opponent, the Croatian Osijek. In the first match in Croatia, AEK entered the game strongly and took the lead in the 12th minute with Zagorakis, while in the 70th minute Nikolaidis made it 0–2, but immediately after that the Croatians reduced it to 1–2. AEK kept the score in their favor until the end and was the clear favorite for qualification. In the second leg in Athens, AEK soon found themselves behind with a 15th-minute own goal by Ferrugem, but turned the score around to be leveled by the Osijek at 2-2 before half-time. Eventually, a goal by Konstantinidis in the 79th minute, gave the yellowblacks the qualification. In the next round, another theoretically passable opponent was drawn against AEK, the Bulgarian Litex Lovech. The first match took place at Nikos Goumas Stadium and AEK came in impressively from the start and scoring 3 goals by the 23rd minute and with the Bulgarians reducing it to 3–1 in the 30th minute. In the second half, AEK conceded another goal for the final 3–2 and the Bulgarians to re-enter the qualification game. In the rematch in frozen Lovech, AEK were called upon to qualify in a match that took place in very difficult weather conditions. A goal by their top player in the match, Gamarra, at the 6th minute, brought AEK very close to the qualification, who even though conceding a goal at the end of the match, had already qualified. AEK reached the 16th of the institution and the margins for passable draws were narrowed. They were eventually drawn with the mighty Internazionale and things became extremely difficult. The first match at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza started impressively for AEK, who took the lead in the 8th minute with a great shot by Zagorakis. However, the Italian team quickly recovered and with two goals from Zanetti and Kallon made it 2–1 before the break, while their superiority was then sealed with another goal in the 56th minute from Ventola. The rematch was indeed difficult. In a packed Nikos Goumas Stadium, AEK tried to press, but in their first chance of Inter conceded a goal with free-kick by Greško in the 20th minute. AEK equalized after 3 minutes with a header by Konstantinidis and overturned the score with Nikolaidis at the 56th minute making the crowd heated as it brings the team just one goal away from extra-time, but the experienced and quality Italians immediately equalized with Ventola, which shaped the final 2–2. AEK's European course ended there, with a elimination with their "heads up".

In the Cup, AEK initially qualified by playing in a group with Panserraikos, Egaleo, and Nafpaktiakos Asteras. After an easy qualification over Agios Nikolaos, their next opponent were Kilkisiakos with the yellowblacks achieving an even easier qualification. In the quarter-finals, AEK faced PAOK. In the first leg of Nikos Goumas Stadium, AEK prevailed with 2–1, while in the second leg of Toumba Stadium seemed difficult, but in the end it turned out to be a "strawl" with AEK winning with 0–4. In the semi-finals, AEK were drawn against Skoda Xanthi. The first match at Xanthi ended with 0–0 and AEK seemed as the favorite for the rematch. In the end, the Xanthi team proved to be "tougher", the match ended 0–0 and went to extra-time. There, however, a goal by Ilija Ivić in the 106th minute gave AEK the qualification for the final, against Olympiacos. The cup final took place a week after the "championship final" and beyond its given importance, it was AEK's opportunity for a revenge. The match was very strong from the start and despite the chances, the first-half ended 0–0. In the 51st minute, Nikolaidis won a penalty, Tsiartas executed it, the ball hit the two posts, reached Nikolaidis who shot, and after going against the body of Konstantinidis, ended up in the net. Olympiacos then pushed for the equalizer and eventually succeeded at the 70th minute with a header by Giovanni, who was sent-off 9 minutes later for an unsportsmanlike hit on Konstantinidis. In the 81st minute, Ilija Ivić entered the match and 2 minutes later, after a foul by Tsiartas, he scored the winning goal with a header and AEK won the title.[3]

The top scorer of the season for the "two-headed" in the championship was Nikolaidis with 17 goals, while Tsiartas scored 16 goals. The presence of the amazing Gamarra in defense was also noteworthy.[4]