AEK made an immense effort against Rayo Vallecano to overturn the 3-0 first-leg deficit in Vallecas and came close to a miracle in Nea Filadelfia.
The Union nearly repeated what happened in 1977 against QPR at the same stadium, but just fell short and saw their European journey end in the quarter-finals of the Conference League.
The journey may have ended, but with their performance this season, AEK has started rebuilding its European future, as you read earlier, the yellow and blacks made a leap in the UEFA rankings, climbing from 160th place with 9,500 points to 84th with 24,000 points.
Overall, this season in Europe, AEK achieved many records. Some big, some small, from the moment they entered the qualifying process in the summer, and without room for error, they secured 3/3 qualifications, which placed them in the League Phase of the competition.
Celebrated the most wins in a European season
AEK, therefore, qualified for a League Phase for the first time and, in fact, took third place, the best ever achieved by a Greek team in a League Phase of a European competition, and for the first time, they passed the test of three summer rounds.
Furthermore, the 13 points they collected in the League Phase represent AEK's largest haul in a group or league stage of a European competition.
They played a total of 16 matches in Europe, the most in a single season, and celebrated 9 victories, the most in a European season, which is also a record for Marko Nikolic. At the same time, they scored 14 goals in the League Phase, having the best attack.
This year, AEK equaled their records for their biggest wins in Europe, both home and away, with a 6-0 victory over Aberdeen in the League Phase and a 0-4 away win against Celje in the last 16 of the Conference League, while for the first time, they achieved three away victories in Florence, Samsun, and Celje.
First Greek team in the quarter-finals of four European competitions
Overall, this season, AEK had their most prolific year in their entire history with 30 goals scored, thus surpassing the 24 goals they had scored in the 2001-2002 UEFA Cup season.
Naturally, they also became the first Greek team to have competed in the quarter-finals of 4 different competitions (European Cup 1968-69, UEFA Cup 1976-77, Cup Winners' Cup 1996-97 and 1997-98, and UEFA Conference League).
Regarding the results, with the away win over Fiorentina, AEK won for the first time on Italian soil, and achieved 2/2 in Turkey, as after their victory in Trabzon over Trabzonspor in 2019, they secured an away win this year in Samsun over Samsunspor.
Also, after 8 matches, AEK achieved their first historical victory against Anderlecht, and for the first time managed to overturn a 0-2 deficit in Europe, turning the match against Craiova into a 3-2 victory in Nea Filadelfia.
Brought the most points to Greece this season
AEK returned to the quarter-finals of a European competition after 1998 and played in April for the first time since the semi-finals of the 1976-77 UEFA Cup, bringing the most points to Greece this season (2025-2026), having collected 17,500 points, with Panathinaikos second with 13,250.
In fact, regarding the 1976-77 season, they surpassed it as AEK reached 6 victories in the main phase of a European competition, not counting the qualifiers, thus leaving behind the 5 victories they had achieved that season when they reached the semi-finals.
Of course, Marko Nikolic also holds a record. With 8 wins in 13 matches, the Serbian coach reached 61.5%, which was recorded as the highest European win percentage for an AEK coach with at least 10 games.