The Manolo Jimenez era Vol. IV. The Spanish coach returned to AEK on December 22 for a fourth spell, this time to succeed Massimo Carrera. The Italian had led ΑΕΚ into the group stages of the UEFA Europa League, however, the Union’s poor run in the competition, combined with an unconvincing start to the Super League prompted the management to part ways. Along with Carrera, the club’s former technical director Ilias Ivic also parted company with the club.

And so ΑΕΚ have turned to a tried and tested solution in Jimenez, and at least the early stages have shown that the decision is paying off. After the defeat by Olympiacos at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, the Yellow and Blacks went on a five-match unbeaten run which has seen them move into second spot in the table and put one feet in the quarter-finals of the Greek Cup.

The main difference in the team’s displays is that now ΑΕΚ seem to have improved dramatically at the back, while betting heavily on their midfield and attack to get the goals needed to win matches.

The club’s top scorer is Karim AQnsarifard with right goals, while the team’s top creator is Petros Mantalos with six assists. He is closely followed by Tankovic, who has four assists.

For the match at the Toumba, Jimenez will be without injured duo Nedelcearu and Mitaj, while Krsticic is also not yet fully fit. Chygrynskiy and Ansarifard, however are available for selection.