With October’s league phase-opening meeting being the sole blot on that strong record, AEK wasted little time in plotting a route to revenge, and quickly ended Celje’s hopes of registering only a fourth clean sheet in 16 European home games.
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.
But AEK struck again on 33’, when Luka Jovic executed a sharp outside-of-the-boot pass through the lines into Aboubakary Koita’s path - the Mauritanian did the rest, calmly finishing 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.
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.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Aboubakary Koita (AEK Athens)
