AEK Athens have submitted their official squad list to UEFA for the upcoming Champions League play-off tie against Bulgarian side Levski Sofia.
The Greek club completed the submission prior to the midnight Thursday deadline set by European football's governing body, establishing their roster for the two-legged play-off fixture.
Head coach Marko Nikolic was required to trim his non-home-grown options to 17 players following the departures of Niclas Eliasson and James Penrice.
Squad omissions and UEFA regulations
Vitalis was left out of the squad list because he was ineligible, having already featured for Hungarian club Gyor in European qualifying matches earlier this season.
Young defender Alexiou was also omitted from the primary roster as Nikolic finalized his selection for the European tie.
UEFA regulations allow clubs participating in continental competitions to register a maximum of 17 non-home-grown players alongside four federation-trained home-grown players.
Nikolic named four federation-trained home-grown players in the main squad, selecting Petros Mantalos, Lazaros Rota, Stavros Pilios, and Christos Kaloskamis.
Goalkeeper Balamotis was registered on List B, which caters to eligible young homegrown players.
Registered players for play-off tie
The 17 non-home-grown players included in the AEK squad list submitted to UEFA are:
- Thomas Strakosha
- Harold Moukoudi
- Robert Kairinen
- Derek Kutesa
- Mijat Gacinovic
- Luka Jovic
- Oleksandr Zubkov
- Aboubakary Koita
- Lovro Majer
- Georgi Georgiev
- Razvan Marin
- Domagoj Vida
- Sahambo
- Bernardo Varga
- Relvas
- Zini
- Alberto Brignoli
AEK retain the option to make up to two late alterations to their squad list until the eve of the opening match against Levski Sofia.
Match schedule and venues
The first leg of the play-off tie will take place on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia, with kick-off scheduled for 22:00 local time.
The return leg will be played on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at AEK's home stadium in Nea Filadelfia, also kicking off at 22:00 local time.
The winner over the two legs will secure progress to the main stage of the UEFA Champions League, Europe's premier club football tournament.
