Jimmy Thelin admitted Aberdeen’s record European defeat could have become even worse after they crashed to a 6-0 Conference League humiliation at AEK Athens.
The Dons arrived in the Greek capital buoyed by moving off the bottom of the William Hill Premiership following back-to-back wins over Dundee and St Mirren.
But their hopes of building further momentum and picking up their first Conference League points were destroyed on a chastening night in the noisy OPAP Arena that brought fresh pressure on Thelin.
Aboubakary Koita’s double and Niclas Eliasson had AEK three up within the first half an hour before further strikes after the break from Razvan Marin and substitutes Luka Jovic and Dereck Kutesa for the dominant hosts.
The result left the Dons languishing at the bottom of the Conference League table with no points and a goal difference of minus seven ahead of their trip to Cyprus to face AEK Larnaca on matchday three next month.
“We know it’s not acceptable…it was 6-0, but it could be more,” said Thelin. “There is so much to improve, but also we played two games before in the league and it was two clean sheets and a stable performance.
“Tonight, Athens exposed us and that’s what we have to learn from. So, sometimes, just hands up, they win, totally deserved.”
Aberdeen were the brighter team in the opening 10 minutes but they fell apart after Koita’s 11th-minute opener, and Thelin admitted they have to find a way to become stronger collectively when they face such adversity.
“It was a difficult one, the way the game went,” said the manager. “We felt really prepared before the game as a collective after our latest results and clean sheets.
“But when the game started like it did, when they exposed us so much in the transitions and scored these early goals, we were under pressure directly and we couldn’t find a way to come back in the game.
“You can lose games sometimes but you have to find a way to stop it, and we tried, but we didn’t succeed today.
“We need to find a way in these kind of games to help each other much, much better.
“We have a journey to do to grow and prepare ourselves for this level. But, of course, it went too far, and all the chances they created today was too much.
“You need to find a way as a collective to say ‘OK, we have to stop it here now’.”
