Champions League?

It was just six years ago that we stood in Nuremberg and watched how Eintracht came close to being relegated for the fifth time.

We were there in Rostock in 1992 when Frankfurt gambled away the long-awaited German championship, but also in 1996 at the first descent - and later at three more.

We were in Fürth, Aue, Gütersloh and Wattenscheid and sat with 11,000 other spectators in sub-zero temperatures in the old, huge Waldstadion to see a 2:3 draw against VfB Oldenburg.

Daniel Schleidt

Coordinator of the economics department in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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All these images, of the many journeys, of victories and disappointments, went through the minds of many Eintracht Frankfurt fans on Wednesday in the few seconds when the Champions League anthem was finally heard for the first time in the Waldstadion.

Many spectators in the stadium and certainly also at home on the screens had tears running down their cheeks and most of them had their hair stand up: How long had they been waiting for this moment?

Arrived early

The first appearance of Frankfurt Eintracht in the premier class of European club football against Sporting Lisbon was a lavish celebration and an emotional highlight for the fan base.

On Wednesday evening, the melody of the champions rang out in the arena for the first time, and even before the first ball was played, the whole stadium was in a great mood of celebration.

The level of anticipation was shown by the interest in the specially created Champions League jersey: Eintracht sold around 10,000 of these jerseys within 24 hours – a record.

Most spectators arrived early for the historic first home game so as not to miss anything and to get in the right mood.

Before the kick-off, the active fan scene provided the goosebumps atmosphere that is now typical in Frankfurt with a stadium-wide, multi-part choreography that had been prepared over days and that covered the wide circle in black and white.

On May 18, when Eintracht won the Europa League, the club's supporters first celebrated the title - and only then realized over time that their team had also qualified for the Champions League for the first time with this triumph.

Everyone knew back then that there would be quite a different caliber in this league than in the Europa League - and they could experience it on the premiere evening in Frankfurt.

Eintracht showed a committed game against the Portuguese from the start on their debut in the premier class and not only gained an advantage on the field, but also a number of good scoring chances.

The opening goal for the Portuguese fell almost out of nowhere.

After that, Eintracht's defense showed gaps, which Sporting promptly used to make it 2-0.

After that, coach Oliver Glasner's team settled in the opposing half.

However, the team failed to score in the first Champions League game in the club's history.

Instead, the Portuguese made it 3-0 on the counter – and Eintracht suffered a bitter defeat in the end.

The stadium remained in a celebratory mood.

Hardly any spectators left the arena after the final whistle, the audience in the stands and especially in the corner celebrated the team - defiant and proud of the historic achievement.

And with the feeling that we have seen much, much worse times with this unity.