The former star of the team, Demis Nikolaidis and a group of partners and friends of the club, put on the carpet the plan of being included in the article 44 of the bankruptcy law and on 7 July he took over the administration.

The article 44 was an inspiration of the economist Giorgos Kintis, who elaborated the plan and as soon as the first financiers and the leader Nikolaidis were found, hope began to fade.

The roster that the Portuguese had in his hands to work with was lacking, since the big stars had left with the only remaining ones being Kostas Katsouranis and Nikos Liberopoulos as well as the veterans, Nikos Kostenoglou and Nikolaos Georgeas, while at the end of the transfer period, with personal actions of Santos, they acquired Bruno Alves and Paulo Assunção on loan from Porto.

Meanwhile, the article 44 legal battle continued and the season of uncertainty began with the world turning its attention to the very existence of AEK, which depended on the court's final verdict.

Freed from the stress of existence itself and in an unprecedented climate of rallying and unity, AEK began an incredible run in the league with back-to-back victories and April found them equal contenders for the championship.

The tense rematch was played in an intense atmosphere in Georgios Kamaras Stadium, after AEK fans turned it into a sustained protest against the negative decision of the article 44.

There, in a relatively difficult draw, they found themselves in the same group as Sevilla, Lille, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Alemannia Aachen, where they had a very bad campaign with 4 defeats in equal matches, thus staying out of the continuation of the tournament.

The course of the team in the Cup was similar, where after eliminating PANO Malia and Agios Dimitrios, they found in front of them the double winner of the previous season, Panathinaikos.

Somewhere there the team of Santos woke up and immediately took the lead again, until in the 77th minute Vladimir Ivić in his most important goal with AEK, sealed an emphatic qualification calling the fans of the host to be quiet.