AEK Athens Crush Celje 4-0 in Conference League

Varga Scores as AEK crush Celje in Conference League

Highlights: AEK Athens demolished Celje 4-0, booking their place in the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals.

 

AEK Athens cruise past Celje 4-0 in Conference League round of 16...

AEK Athens cruised past Celje 4-0, putting one foot in the Conference League quarters.

The Greeks were ruthless, ending Celje's hopes of a clean sheet and booking their spot with a game to spare. 

Barnabas Varga took just three minutes to open his European account with the Greeks, as he lurked at the back post and headed in at the end of an inswinging corner from Razvan Marin - though there was some unintentional help, as the ball deflected off Zan Karnicnik en route to the net.

Varga nearly made it a brace twice before the half-hour mark, as he hit the woodwork and saw a point-blank effort saved by Zan-Luk Leban.

AEK struck again on 33 minutes, Luka Jovic's clever pass set up Aboubakary Koita for a calm finish into the opposite corner.

He would be upstaged by Mijat Gacinovic just three minutes later, though, when he hit a sumptuous lofted volley into the top-left corner following Darko Hrka’s botched clearance.

Only the quick thinking of a committed Leban stopped Jovic from getting a goal of his own at the end of a counter in first-half stoppage time.

But a fourth wasn’t long coming, as Juanjo Nieto’s foul on Jovic barely inches outside the box proved costly, with Marin hitting the bar from a direct effort and Harold Moukoudi prodding in the rebound.

Nieto’s nightmare almost got worse instantly when Varga robbed him and saw his blocked effort fall to Jovic, who once again was left in disbelief as Lukasz Bejger prevented a fifth with Leban stranded.

It was only after the hour mark that Celje looked remotely like contenders, but even with AEK - whose 12th unbeaten away game had long been assured - easing off, the slovenly Slovenians were reduced to pot shots and speculative efforts.

AEK Athens with a dominant display in Celje 😤#UECL pic.twitter.com/eZ4y4rUbF5

— UEFA Conference League (@Conf_League) March 12, 2026

An utterly ruinous evening for Celje sees their hopes of a second successive quarter-final appearance lying in tatters, while AEK are now surely just a formality away from a likely meeting with LaLiga outfit Rayo Vallecano in the next round