And literally. With the triumph, AEK secured third place and progress straight to the round of 16 of the KL. Owner Marius Iliopoulos stormed into the booth, excitedly jumped on the bench and started dancing. In addition, he promised the cabin a hefty bonus of 500,000 euros (about 12.5 million crowns).
Meanwhile, the fighters from Craiova sat in the dressing room like a collection of bodies without a soul, some players broke down in tears already on the pitch. No wonder. They led 2-0. They would only need to hold on for a draw to advance and eliminate Sigma from a distance. But the intervention of the video referee at 2:2 gave the home team a penalty, which was converted by Luka Jovič. Serbian forward who also played for the famous Real Madrid.
At the same time, the Romanian team lost points just before the end even a week ago against Sparta. Matěj Ryneš scored the 2:1 triumph in the 89th minute.
Craiova was mainly annoyed by the length of the setting, which increased by seven minutes compared to the originally announced amount. By four, respectively, because a penalty foul on Domagoj Vida was investigated for about three minutes.
“I don’t think it was fair. Everyone could see it with their own eyes. We didn’t deserve this fate. I don’t want to deal with the referees any more. I would still get a penalty,” Craio’s coach Filipe Coelho grumbled.
“I can’t believe it. I don’t even know what to say without talking nonsense. We should have advanced. I’ve never seen a set-up go four minutes before,” sad his charge Alex Cicaldau.
On the contrary, it was logically cheerful in the cabin of the winners, and not only thanks to the rambunctious owner.
AEK will play the knockout phase of European cups after twenty-three years.
“The players are my heroes. I am incredibly proud of them. And our cup journey is far from over,” coach Marko Nikolić rejoiced.
