Titles are the desire, but the big victory for AEK lies in the starting point for the next season

Winning the championship is the first great desire. That of the second cup. AEK is as close as it is far, against tough opponents, even if they lag behind them in quality of play, after all, these methods are somewhat subjective.

She does not play alone, she has to win through Leoforo to take first place, she has to overcome the hurdle of PAOK after three losing finals to win the other cup. But she is here!

It’s here after 6 very important footballers’ operations and about 20 bruises, if we count them correctly. It is here after many setbacks – on and off the field – that at other times would have crushed them because their structures were fragile, while now it is a springboard to come back stronger and respond.

All this and much more, the creations of a coach who has managed in a very short time to build something great and above all, something that has a present and a future.

At the start of the season, there were many of us who thought it would be important for AEK to have the same manager at the end of the year, because that would be proof that something is working right again. Today, after the club found a figurehead to rally around, the team’s transformation is admittedly a space.

Whether or not football is like that, as Melisanides ironically put it at the catering meeting, is something everyone sees as they want. But no one can ignore that a team that has been literally on the losing side has brought to the league this year what is most attractive to those who wish to see sport as a spectacle, as a product of quality entertainment, fun and enjoyment, regardless of the end result.

The next day has many advantages

There is no reason to compare them to others, but just looking at themselves, AEK has a very important advantage over what was true of them in all previous years, after winning the last championship, in 2018.

It is certainly enough to follow the path of 1989, when it invested in this huge success against the richer and more “washed” Olympiacos at the time, and not fall into all the misdeeds that led him to the last four frustrating years.

Almeida is not infallible, nor is he the character who would claim it, but he has earned the right to be respectfully heard by all. He has created a team with quality, foundations and a two-year horizon – no more in its current form, because there are many key players over 30 – and they will need specific injections of quality and youth, but not cosmic changes, everything will be studied and there is no rush.

Let’s not forget the most important thing before next season. AEK will be back in contention for participation in European competition groups, with a view of even the Champions League, as difficult as that may sound.

A new vision and perspective is being created, along with the footballers’ enticement that he will try to get close or keep his potential, with Pinedas being a standout case. Everything changes in the club, its aura, its credibility, its future potential. They are a level team again, an invaluable value.