The 1999–2000 season was the 76th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 41st consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 7 August 1999 and finished on 27 May 2000.
Kits
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Overview
From the middle of previous season, Dimitris Melissanidis had taken over the management of the team again and had been credited the success of the entrance to the Champions League qualifiers. Melissanidis decided to follow the example of Dušan Bajević's success and addressed the Serbian market to build a new title-winning team. The upcoming Serbian coach Ljubiša Tumbaković from Partizan arrived at AEK and brought with him Matijašević, Petrić and Bjeković. The highlight was the loan of Dragan Ćirić from Barcelona, which raised a storm of excitement in the AEK fans, who rushed to the airport to welcome him. At the beginning of September a big earthquake took place in Parnitha and damaged part of Nikos Goumas Stadium, which was deemed unsuitable and from that moment on, AEK were forced to play most of their home mathces at Nea Smyrni Stadium.
The season started with great enthusiasm, title expectations and a draw in the Champions League qualifiers that gave AEK the assurance of qualifying at the group stage, therefore financial independency and self-sufficiency. Amidst an atmosphere of excitement and a new beginning for the Champions League, AEK were drawn against the very passable Swedish AIK. However, the team of Tumbaković was not presented ready for the first leg at Nikos Goumas Stadium in August and the Swedish champions left with a valuable 0–0 draw. Tumbaković had assured that the team would be more ready in the rematch. Indeed, AEK were more offensive and created chances, but an inactivity of Atmatsidis at the 57th minute, costed them the presence in the group stage. AIK, despite being outsiders, managed to qualify after withstanding the pressure of AEK at the end, when even Dellas stepped up to the attack and played as a center forward. Thus, AEK contunued their European campaign in the UEFA Cup.
The disappointed AEK, were drawn with Torpedo Kutaisi from Georgia. In a bad match at Ramaz Shengelia Stadium, the yellow-blacks again showed up unmotivated, but got the 1–0 victory in the end of the match thanks to a goal by Zikos. The rematch was a chance to cool off against a very easy opponent. However, the only 5,000 fans were in Nea Smyrni to watch the comfortable and satisfying 6–1 against the Georgians. Next stop for AEK was the Hungarian MTK Budapest. Despite this, AEK put in a poor performance at the Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium and were stymied by Henk ten Cate's complex tactical ploys. Fortunately After Ćirić reduced midway through the second half and a nightmarish 2–0 half-time, turned into an attractive 2–1, a scoreline that could easily be overturned in Athens. The rematch in Nea Smyrni almost turned out to be a nightmare for AEK, since the well-prepared MTK, playing hard, managed to stress AEK before Ćirić redeemed himself with a penalty again, fifteen minutes before the end of the game and qualification was lost. Eventually AEK entered the draw for the third round of the UEFA Cup. In the third round, AEK came across an old acquaintance, Monaco. On 23 November in an initially difficult match and eventually, Monaco with the help of the referee, left Nea Filadelfeia with the precious 2–2. In Louis De's second leg, AEK were as good as in the first game, as they fought and created the chances that would have given them the qualification, but a miscalculation by Atmatsidis, brought the goal by Simone just after half an hour. The rest of the game flowed with AEK trying to equalize and Monaco limiting themselves to drugged counter-attacks to seal qualification. In the end, the 1–0 remained, despite the sensational play of Dellas and Nikolaidis. With this unfair elimination, AEK exited to the European Cups and the new millennium found them participating only in domestic competitions.