Michalis Bakakis (; born 18 March 1991) is a Greek professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

club

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrini ...

Club career

Early career

Born on 18 March 1991 in

Agrinio Agrinio (Greek language, Greek: Αγρίνιο, ; Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 89,691 inhabitants (2021) as well as the seco ...

, Bakakis began his career with local side

. His first professional appearance was a win match against Fokikos on 21 January 2009. In the summer of 2011 he transferred to

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

. He returned to

on 31 July 2012.

AEK Athens

On 15 April 2014,

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

announced the agreement with the player for a 4-years' contract. In February 2015, shortly before the crucial match against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

for the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, Bakakis stated that ''"We must be determined, passionate and concentrated. First of all we want to win the Football League title, so that AEK will return where they belong. But we are interested in the Greek Cup as well. It would be a dream come true if we manage to win both."'' On 20 May 2015, in a home match against

Olympiacos Volos Olympiacos Volos Football Club () is a Greek football club based in the city of Volos. History In 1938 Olympiacos achieves the biggest distinction made from a provincial team at the time, succeeding to enter the final eight in Greek Football Cup. ...

he suffered a cruciate rupture, which left him out of the pitch for 6 months. The 26-year-old right back's contract had been due to expire in the summer of 2017 but that has now been stretched to 2019 by his club. Bakakis always had the desire to remain at AEK Athens and he was more than happy to commit his future to the club for the next two years. On 12 April 2017, Bakakis agreed to a contract extension with AEK, until the summer of 2020. At the start of the 2017–18 season he switched his number from ''27'' to ''2''. On 25 July 2017, he made his debut in the Champions League in a 2–0 home loss against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

for the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

. On 23 February 2018, Bakakis was included in Europa League's Team of the Week for his performance in a 0–0 away draw against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

. The 27-year-old defender has been in excellent form for experienced Spanish manager Manolo Jimenez's team during 2017–18 season, playing mainly as central or left defender even if his natural position is at the right place of the defensive line. On 29 August 2018, Bakakis agreed to a contract extension with AEK, until the summer of 2023. On 10 November 2019, the 28-year-old Greek international scored only the third goal of his AEK career, and his first strike in four-and-a-half years when he let fly from the edge of the box with a powerful shot which left Sokratis Dioudis no chance, in a devastating 3–2 away loss against

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

. On 31 March 2021, AEK will be deprived of the services of Michalis Bakakis, as the Greek back was injured in a national match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, as it confirmed the assessment that the tendon in his right leg has been affected. Eventually the international back has suffered a partial tendon rupture and will be out of action for at least two weeks. It is the third injury of Bakakis in 2021. On the beginning of November 2021, Michalis Bakakis has been put at the disposal of coach

Sokratis Ofrydopoulos Sokratis Ofrydopoulos (; born 26 October 1973) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Personal Ofridopoulos is of Pontic origin from his father's side. Also, his father who was born in Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ...

for AEK Athens B F.C., in order to find a competitive rhythm from the moment he has not had a match with the first team until today, but also to help the youngsters of the second team. On 29 July 2021, the match that

AEK A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Established ...

excluded from the

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

, was probably the last appearance until today of Michalis Bakakis with the jersey of the club. With

Vladan Milojević Vladan Milojević (; born 9 March 1970) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Serbian Super League team Red Star Belgrade. Playing career Born in Aranđelovac, Milojević joined the you ...

, was almost excluded, but since the arrival of new coach

Argirios Giannikis Argirios Giannikis (born 9 July 1980) is a Greek-German professional football manager who was most recently the manager of 1860 Munich. He has also previously managed Greek clubs PAS Giannina and AEK Athens, and German clubs Rot-Weiss Essen and V ...

, the international defender has been informed that he is no longer considered as a member of the club, and that he can look for the next stage of his career.

International career

He has represented Greece at U-19 level. Bakakis' debut with the

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

came against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, replacing

Vasilis Torosidis Vasilis Torosidis (Greek language, Greek: Βασίλης Τοροσίδης, born 10 June 1985) is a Greek former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right-back. Club career Skoda Xanthi Torosidis made his senior debut ...

in November 2014.

Career statistics

Club

Notes

:A. Includes appearances in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. :B. Includes appearances in the

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

play-offs.

International

Honours

;AEK Athens *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2017–18 *

Super League Greece 2 The Super League Greece 2 () is the second division of professional Association football, football in Greece, serving as a feeder league to the top level Super League Greece, Super League 1. Made up of 20 teams in two groups, it is usually played ...

: 2014–15 (South Group) *

: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakakis, Michalis 1991 births Living people Greek men's footballers Greece men's international footballers Greece men's youth international footballers Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Super League Greece 2 players Panetolikos F.C. players AO Chania F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players AEK Athens B F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from Agrinio 21st-century Greek sportsmen