Eintracht Frankfurt gets under the wheels in the Champions League premiere against Sporting | hessenschau.de

In the first Champions League game in the club’s history, Eintracht Frankfurt is the better team for a long time, but lacks the last determination – and is countered in the end ice cold.

Eintracht Frankfurt lost the first game of the Champions League group stage: On Wednesday evening, Frankfurt played 0-3 (0-0) against Sporting Lisbon. Marcus Edwards (65′), Francisco Trincao (67′) and Nuno Santos (82′) scored the visitors’ goals.

Muani emerges free just outside the gate

There was one change compared to the game against Leipzig (4-0): Eric-Junior Dina Ebimbe replaced the injured captain Sebastian Rode. And was able to experience goosebumps with his colleagues even before kick-off when the Champions League anthem resounded through the Frankfurt Arena for the first time in the club’s history.

And Eintracht almost got the mood boiling even more early on: Randal Kolo Muani appeared free in front of goalkeeper Antonio Adan after a catastrophic miss from the Sporting defense, but he was able to parry the shot with his long leg (2nd minute). Ten minutes later, Frankfurt suffered a moment of shock: Lisbon striker Edwards stepped on Christopher Lenz in the penalty area and fell. The referee initially whistled for a penalty, but correctly took it back after studying the video.

Lindstrom and Kamada combine without yield

As a result, Eintracht often gave the ball to the guest and concentrated on pressing – with success. Lindström snagged an unfortunate pass from Adan and freed Kamada, but Kolo Muani couldn’t find the save (16′). The situation was similar in the 30th minute when Kamada looked for the goal after a Lindstrom pass from the baseline instead of serving Kolo Muani. Shortly before the break, the energetic Lindström Kolo Muani didn’t find a cross either, but the Sporting defense with Hidemasa Morita and Matheus Reis almost put the ball in the goal themselves.

And Sporting Lisbon? The Portuguese could hardly do anything with their possession of the ball and only came dangerously in front of the goal once. Edwards penetrated into the penalty area, made a few hooks and shot in the opposite direction of Kevin Trapp, who was there (35′). Overall, Eintracht’s first half of the Champions League was good, but not crowned with success.

Sporting double shock shocks Eintracht

In the second half, Frankfurt’s pressing train continued to roll: Mario Götze used Sporting’s sleepy defense and stole the ball in the penalty area. Kamada’s subsequent shot was blocked at the last second (52′). At the other end, the Portuguese left a scent mark with a shot by Pedro Porro, which, however, went to the side netting (57′).

Edwards then turned the game upside down in the 65th minute: The most dangerous player on the Sporting offensive muddled through the penalty area, Ebimbe deflected his shot so that the ball went into the net behind Trapp – 0: 1 from a Frankfurt perspective. And that’s not all: Just two minutes later, Lisbon overplayed the home side’s pressing, which had been so good up to that point. In the penalty area it was Edwards again, who kept the overview and Trincao played the 0:2 in an exemplary manner.

A counter puts the lid on it

Eintracht then tried to get back on its feet, but more than a long-range shot from Kolo Muani (78th) and a free kick from Luca Pellegrini (81st) didn’t jump out – both went well over it. Sporting, on the other hand, put the lid on when Nuno Santos was able to overcome Trapp at the end of a counterattack to make it 0:3 (82nd) ​​- also the final result.

The unsuccessful Champions League premiere can, however, make Eintracht forget in the coming week: On Tuesday (9 p.m.) the second group game is against Olympique Marseille.