page_title: AEK Athens F.C.
section_title: First Greek presence in the UEFA Champions League group stage
hierarchical_section_title: AEK Athens F.C. / History / 1981–1999 / First Greek presence in the UEFA Champions League group stage
caption_attribution_description: Ελληνικά: O Λεκίδης εναντίον του Ντέμη Νικολαίδη
context_page_description: AEK Football Club, also known in European competitions as AEK Athens FC, is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filadelfeia, a suburb of Athens, Greece.
  Established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War, AEK has become one of the three most popular clubs
  in Greece and the Greek diaspora and one of the three most successful teams in Greek football, winning 32 national titles and the only one
  to have won all the competitions organised by the Hellenic Football Federation
context_section_description: In 1994–95, AEK was the first Greek football club that participated in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after defeating Scottish champions Rangers; AEK was eliminated by Ajax Amsterdam and AC Milan, who made it to the final. With Michalis Trochanas as president and Dušan Bajević as coach, the club won the Greek Cup in 1996.
  Former player Petros Ravousis took over the coaching position when Dušan Bajević defected to Olympiacos at the end of 1996. Ravousis led the team to its second Super Cup in 1996, and its eleventh Cup title in 1997, beating Panathinaikos in both finals.
  By far AEK's most successful run with titles, the period also saw the club sign Temur Ketsbaia and several young, talented players like Demis Nikolaidis, Christos Kostis, Christos Maladenis and Akis Zikos. Nikolaidis, in particular, an AEK fan since childhood, declined more lucrative offers from Olympiacos and Panathinaikos to sign for his beloved club. During the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons, AEK progressed to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain and Lokomotiv Moscow.
  In 1999, ex-president Dimitris Melissanidis organised a friendly match against FK 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. The game ended 1–1, when after 60 minutes thousands of Serbian football fans invaded the pitch to embrace the footballers.
caption: Demis Nikolaidis
exif: {}