2008–09 AaB Fodbold season

AaB Fodbold
2008–09 season
ManagerScotland Bruce Rioch[notes 1] (from July 1 to October 23)
Denmark Allan Kuhn (interim manager)
Sweden Magnus Pehrsson (from January 1)
StadiumEnergi Nord Arena
Danish Superliga7th
Danish CupRunners-up
Champions LeagueGroup stage
UEFA CupRound of 16
Top goalscorerCacá (8)

During the 2008–09 Danish football season, AaB Fodbold competed in the Danish Superliga.

Season summary

Bruce Rioch managed to guide AaB to the Champions League group stage, but was sacked after only two wins from the first 10 league games and a single point won from their first three Champions League games, with the team 11th in the Superliga. Interim manager Allan Kuhn went undefeated in his seven league games and three Champions League games, seeing the club rise to 6th and qualify for the UEFA Cup knockout stages. However, sporting director Lynge Jakobsen was wary of promoting Kuhn from assistant coach to head coach and instead opted to appoint Magnus Pehrsson as permanent head coach. Although Pehrsson only won 3 of his 16 league matches in charge, resulting in a final 7th-place finish (their lowest in 11 years), he achieved famous victories against Deportivo and Manchester City to take AaB to the round of 16 before elimination at the hands of the Mancunian team on penalties. He also took the team to the Danish Cup final; although they were defeated by F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen's title victory saw AaB qualify for the second qualifying round of the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa League.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Morocco MAR Karim Zaza[notes 2]
2 DF Denmark DEN Michael Jakobsen
4 DF Australia AUS Michael Beauchamp
5 DF Norway NOR Kjetil Wæhler
6 DF Netherlands NED Steve Olfers
7 MF Denmark DEN Anders Due
8 MF Sweden SWE Andreas Johansson
9 MF Denmark DEN Thomas Augustinussen
11 FW Jamaica JAM Luton Shelton (on loan from Vålerenga)
14 FW Denmark DEN Jeppe Curth
15 FW South Africa RSA Siyabonga Nomvethe
16 DF Denmark DEN Kasper Bøgelund
18 MF Brazil BRA Cacá
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW United States USA Marcus Tracy
20 MF Denmark DEN Henrik Dalsgaard
21 MF Denmark DEN Kasper Risgård
23 MF Denmark DEN Thomas Enevoldsen
24 DF Denmark DEN Jens-Kristian Sørensen
27 MF Denmark DEN Patrick Kristensen
28 DF Denmark DEN Emil Haucke
30 GK Denmark DEN Kenneth Stenild
31 DF Denmark DEN Lasse Nielsen
32 FW Denmark DEN Ronnie Schwartz
36 DF Denmark DEN Daniel Christensen
37 GK Denmark DEN Simon Sloth

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF Denmark DEN Martin Pedersen (to Vejle Boldklub)
10 FW Poland POL Marek Saganowski (on loan from Southampton)
17 MF South Africa RSA Benedict Vilakazi (to Mamelodi Sundowns)
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW Denmark DEN Simon Bræmer (to Akademisk Boldklub)
25 DF Denmark DEN Casper Nordstrøm (to Thisted FC)
26 FW Denmark DEN Jacob Nordstrøm (released)

Results

UEFA Champions League

Second qualifying round

30 July 2008 Aalborg BK Denmark 5–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina Modriča Energi Nord Arena, Aalborg
20:00 CET Johansson 16'
Jakobsen 42'
Bræmer 44'
Due 53'
Cacá 89'
Report Attendance: 6,043
Referee: Stanislav Sukhina (Russia)
6 August 2008 Modriča Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–2 Denmark Aalborg BK Bilino Polje, Zenica
20:00 CET Bojić 72' Report Due 12'
Risgård 62'
Attendance: 270
Referee: Thorsten Kinhöfer (Germany)

Aalborg BK won 7–1 on aggregate.

Third qualifying round

13 August 2008 Aalborg BK Denmark 2–0 Lithuania Kaunas Energi Nord Arena, Aalborg
20:05 CET Cacá 71'
Curth 86'
Report Attendance: 6,310
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
27 August 2008 Kaunas Lithuania 0–2 Denmark Aalborg BK S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas
19:00 CET Report Risgård 75', 90+1' Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Pedro Proença (Portugal)

Aalborg BK won 4–0 on aggregate.

Group stage

17 September 2008 Celtic Scotland 0–0 Denmark Aalborg BK Celtic Park, Glasgow
20:45 Report Attendance: 58,754
Referee: Matteo Trefoloni (Italy)
21 October 2008 Villarreal Spain 6–3 Denmark Aalborg BK Estadio El Madrigal, Villarreal
20:45 Rossi 28'
Capdevila 33'
Llorente 67', 70', 84'
Pires 79'
Report Saganowski 19'
Enevoldsen 36'
Johansson 77'
Attendance: 15,959
Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany)
5 November 2008 Aalborg BK Denmark 2–2 Spain Villarreal Aalborg Stadion, Aalborg
20:45 Curth 54'
Due 81'
Report Rossi 41'
Franco 75'
Attendance: 10,355
Referee: Bertrand Layec (France)
25 November 2008 Aalborg BK Denmark 2–1 Scotland Celtic Aalborg Stadion, Aalborg
20:45 Cacá 73'
Caldwell 87' (o.g.)
Report Robson 53' Attendance: 10,096
Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria)
10 December 2008 Manchester United England 2–2 Denmark Aalborg BK Old Trafford, Manchester
20:45 Tevez 3'
Rooney 52'
Report Jakobsen 31'
Curth 45+2'
Attendance: 74,382
Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France)

UEFA Cup

Round of 32

18 February 2009 Aalborg BK Denmark 3–0 Spain Deportivo La Coruña Energi Nord Arena, Aalborg
21:00 Due 53', 71'
Jakobsen 90' (pen.)
Report Attendance: 7,987
Referee: Nikolai Ivanov (Russia)

Aalborg BK won 6–1 on aggregate.

Round of 16

Manchester City 2–2 Aalborg BK on aggregate. Manchester City won 4–3 on penalties.

References

  1. ^ "FootballSquads - Aalborg - 2008/09". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-08.

Notes

  1. ^ Rioch was born in Aldershot, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and made his international debut for Scotland in 1975.
  2. ^ Zaza was born in Brøndby, Denmark, but also qualified to represent Morocco internationally and made his international debut for Morocco in 2000.