AEK declare player list for Champions League group stages
Reigning Super League winners AEK Athens have named their squad list for participation in the UEFA Champions League group stages, however three first team players were left out.
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Having beaten Celtic and MOL Vidi FC in the qualifying phases, AEK will play in the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2006, taking on Bayern Munich, Benfica and Ajax in Group E. On Monday, the Kitrinomavri released the list of players eligible to compete in the competition, including new signing Giannis Gianniotas in the roster alongside the injured Dmytro Chygrynskiy and Lucas Boye. As a result of receiving red cards in the last match against Vidi, Helder Lopes and Marko Livaja run the risk of missing three games, however they were still picked.
On the other hand, third choice goalkeeper Serafeim Giannikoglou, out of favour midfielder Astrit Ajdarevic and forward Christos Almpanis were all left out of the squad and will not play any part in AEK’s Champions League group stage campaign. Here is the full AEK roster for the tournament:
Goalkeepers: Vasilis Barkas, Panagiotis Tsintotas, Panagiotis Gkinis.
Defenders: Michalis Bakakis, Helder Lopes, Marios Oikonomou, Vasilis Lampropoulos, Rodrigo Galo, Uros Cosic, Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Niklas Hult, Stratos Svarnas*, Giorgos Giannoutsos*.
Midfielders: Andre Simoes, Petros Mantalos, Konstantinos Galanopoulos, Erik Moran, Alef, Viktor Klonaridis, Giannis Gianniotas, Giannis Botos*, Christos Giousis*.
Forwards: Giorgos Giakoumakis, Marko Livaja, Anastasios Bakasetas, Ezequiel Ponce, Lucas Boye.
*List B players
AEK’s UEFA Champions League Group E schedule:
Matchday 1
September 19, Ajax - AEK
Matchday 2
October 2, AEK - Benfica
Matchday 3
October 23, AEK - Bayern Munich
Matchday 4
November 7, Bayern Munich - AEK
Matchday 5
November 27, AEK - Ajax
Matchday 6
December 12, Benfica - AEK
