FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) – Eintracht Frankfurt’s long-awaited first match in the Champions League was spoiled by a 3-0 defeat at home to Sporting in their opening Group D match on Wednesday.
English forward Marcus Edwards put the Portuguese side in front from inside the area in the 65th minute and then two minutes later laid on the pass for Francisco Trincao to double the visitors’ lead.
Nuno Santos deepened the hosts’ misery by grabbing a third goal in the 82nd after impressive play from Pedro Porro down the right wing.
Sporting host Tottenham Hotspur next on Sept. 13 while Frankfurt visit Olympique de Marseille.
Eintracht were European Cup runners-up in 1960 but had not previously reached the modern version of the competition until they qualified for this season’s edition as winners of the Europa League.
There were 51,000 boisterous fans crammed into the Deutsche Bank Park for the occasion and they almost got off to the dream start when Randal Kolo Muani pounced on a soft back pass but the French forward was thwarted by goalkeeper Antonio Adan.
Sporting were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute when Edwards went down in the area but the referee overturned his decision after being advised by VAR to review the play on the pitchside monitor.
(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Toby Davis)
