Youth League: Eintracht Frankfurt against talent factory Sporting

Created: 06/09/2022, 07:00

By: Johannes Goetze

Damir Agovic is the coach of the Eintracht Frankfurt U19s.

© Rolf Herchen/Charlie Rolff

Not only the Bundesliga team from Eintracht Frankfurt meets Sporting Lisbon tomorrow (6.45 p.m.) and thus celebrates its premiere in the Champions League.

The U19s make their debut in the Youth League at 12 noon and measure themselves against one of the best talent factories in the world in the Dreieich sports park.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Nani are just a few of the players that Sporting CP's youth academy has brought to the big football stage.

The success of the youngsters at Sporting does not end with these names: in the last ten years, the capital city have won two of their 17 championship titles in the Campeonato Nacional de Juniores – the highest junior league in Portugal.

Like the pros: Eintracht Frankfurt meets Sporting Lisbon in the Youth League

Head coach Pedro Coelho's U19s were represented in last year's UEFA Youth League.

There she prevailed against Borussia Dortmund, Ajax Amsterdam and Besiktas Istanbul in the group, won the round of 16 against Dynamo Kyiv 2-1 and only lost 0-4 in the quarter-finals in the city duel against Benfica Lisbon.

The UEFA Youth League team plays their home games at the CGD Stadium Aurélio Pereira in Alcochete, east of the Portuguese capital.

The Youth League: 

The UEFA Youth League was introduced in 2013 and takes place alongside the Champions League.

The 32 youth teams from the clubs involved in the Champions League group stage and the 32 youth champions from the strongest nations according to the UEFA club coefficient are eligible to start.

Eintracht U19s meet in their group like the pros against Sporting Lisbon, Olympique Marseille and Tottenham Hotspur.

The group winner qualifies for the round of 16, the group runners-up can still move into the round of 16 via a play-off.

Eintracht plays their home games in the Dreieich sports park.

There hasn't been a German winner yet, the defending champion is Benfica Lisbon. 

Tickets for the game are available in advance on the Eintracht website for 10 euros, reduced for 5 euros.

The box offices will also be open from 10.30 a.m.

At Eintracht, U19 coach Damir Agovic is responsible for the team, although he will only partially fall back on his regular team from the U19 Bundesliga because UEFA has special guidelines for the UEFA Youth League: For example, five players who already are in their first senior year, there can only be eight newcomers in the squad and there are regulations that affect so-called "local players".