Totally 72 teams participated, 18 fromAlpha Ethniki, 18 fromBeta, and 36 fromGamma. It was held in 6 rounds, included final.
Until quarter-finals, there were not surprises but also big confrontations, minus the qualification ofIraklis against Aris and the elimination ofAEL from the group stage by teams of lower divisions. Most remarkable result of second round was the elimination ofPanionios byAtromitos. Even if Panionios won 5–0 in theNea Smyrni Stadium, it was changed in 0–2 without match, because of outlaw use of a footballer by home team side, while they did not accomplish to reverse the score in the second leg.
In quarter-finals,Olympiacos eliminatedPanathinaikos withaway goals rule, with apenalty in last minutes of second match. In semi-finals,PAOK eliminated with an impressive 3–0 home victory after extra time (3–2 on aggregate)AEK Athens, thechampions of the season. In the final[1] (two-legged matches for second and last time) Olympiacos eventlually won the cup for 19th time in their history, after a 1–1 drawaway and a 2–0 win intheir home. Michalis Iordanidis of Doxa Drama emerged as the top scorer with 9 goals.[2]
Each tie in theknockout phase, was played overtwo legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, theaway goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, thenextra time was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the winners were decided by apenalty shoot-out. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
There are no seedings, and teams from the same group can be drawn against each other.