Hibs in Athens: The Background

Hibs were relegated on the back of disastrous 1997-98 league season, for only the third time in their history. Towards the end of that fateful campaign the club appointed former Aberdeen and Scotland legend Alex McLeish as manager. Despite an upturn in form, this was a serious case of ‘too little, too late’.

That summer, McLeish would instigate a club rejuvenation, bringing in a plethora of signings, some of whom went on to legendary status at the club. Mixu Paatelainen was signed from Wolves, Russell Latapy on a free transfer from Boavista and Franck Sauzee on a free from Montpelier. These experienced pedigree signings were coupled with the emergence of a teenage Kenny Miller in attack.

Hibs were immediately promoted back to the SPL with a record total of 89 points (23 ahead of second place Falkirk) – this included a league record 12 game winning streak.

On the back of that impressive campaign, McLeish further strengthened the squad with the addition of young Scottish defender Ian Murray on a free transfer from Dundee United, Irish goalkeeper Nick Colgan from Bournemouth and midfield enforcer Mathias Jack from Dusseldorf. All of whom would play a prominent role in Hibs’ return to the European stage.

Hibs went on to have a solid returning season to the top-flight, finishing sixth and reaching the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. Teenage prodigy, and that season’s top scorer, Kenny Miller left to join Rangers in the summer for £2,000,000.

Despite this, another busy pre-season saw more important arrivals in the shape of Ulrik Laursen from Odense, Didier Agathe from Raith Rovers, John O’Neill from St Johnstone, Gary Smith from Aberdeen, Paul Fenwick from Greenock Morton and David Zitelli from Strasbourg – all on free transfers.

Manager Alex McLeish adopted a very effective 3-5-2 formation for the 2000-01 campaign. The electric Agathe quickly left for the opportunistic Celtic. But after this set-back, the usual line-up comprised: Colgan; Smith, Sauzee, Fenwick; Laursen, Lovell (wing-backs), O’Neill, Jack, Latapy; Paatelainen, Zitelli.

Hibs started the season in excellent form, recoding six victories in the month of August. And it was during this campaign that Hibs recorded one of their most celebrated victories over city rivals Hearts; a 6-2 mauling in a Sunday evening game at Easter Road.

A hat-trick for Paatelainen, around goals for Zitelli and O’Neill, was capped by a mercurial volleyed sixth from Latapy. The team would eventually finish third in the league and reach the Scottish Cup Final (which was lost 3-0 to a Jackie McNamara-inspired Celtic).

Hibs finished the season with 66 points, 12 ahead of nearest challengers Kilmarnock, but far behind the Old Firm duopoly of Rangers and champions Celtic.

With European qualification in mind, McLeish again strengthened his squad in the pre-season. The arrival of Ulises De La Cruz for a (still) club record of £700k was a statement that had Hibs fans buzzing. He was joined by experienced Scottish striker Craig Brewster, returning from a spell in Cyprus (whose Greek experience would be heavily relied on across both legs of the UEFA Cup tie), Spanish striker Paco Luna from Mexico, and Allen Orman from Royal Antwerp.

These arrivals helped to somewhat ameliorate the loss of talisman Russell Latapy to Rangers; after being sacked by the club following a pre-Scottish Cup final drinking session with countryman Dwight Yorke (some sources also credit Yorke’s then girlfriend Jordan with being in attendance) and being arrested for drink-driving. Fans-favourite Mixu Paatelainen also left for Strasbourg.

Moreover, a newly built West Stand was completed for the start of the 2001-02 season, taking the Easter Road capacity to 17,500. This would be the team and the stage for the game against AEK Athens at the beginning of the season.

AEK Athens

AEK Athens, along with their local rivals Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, are considered one of the three heavyweights of Greek football. To date, they have won 12 Greek league titles and 15 Greek Cups.

They have also had some notable European runs in their history. Reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 76-77 season, the Quarter Finals of the European Cup in the 68-69 season and the quarter finals of the Cup Winners Cup in both the 96-97 and 97-98 seasons. The team Hibs faced in the 01-02 UEFA Cup had recently tasted domestic success through winning the 99-00 Greek Cup. The squad contained many Greek internationals, including the talismanic Vasilis Tsartas as midfield creator and the prolific striker Demis Nikolaidis.

AEK Athens qualified for the 01-02 UEFA Cup by dint of a third-place finish in the previous league season. Finishing five points behind second place Panathinaikos and 17 behind champions Olympiacos.

AEK were newly managed by Portuguese native Fernando Santos for the 2001-02 season, joining the Greek side from his home-country heavyweights Porto. Although only staying in Athens for one season (this time), Santos went on to enjoy further success as manager of Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, the Greek national team and in his current job as manager of Portugal, where he was in charge for the country’s only major footballing success at the 2016 European Championships. In between these, he did return to AEK between 2004 and 2006.

The same squad that Hibs faced in the first round clash would go on to lose the league on goal difference to Olympiacos and beat the same opponents in that season’s Greek Cup final. The following season, a team containing many of the same names would go down in AEK history as the ‘Dream Team’.

Mainstays of this team; Zagorakis, Tsartas, Kapsis and Lakis; would be part of the Greek squad that claimed the 2004 European Championship crown in Portugal. Both Zagorakis and Kapsis started in the final against the home nation, with Zagorakis named the national team captain and thus lifting the trophy after the match.