First UWCL opponents: Sporting Lisbon

The groups for the first round of the UEFA Women's Champions League have been drawn in Nyon, with Eintracht facing Sporting Lisbon first up in the knock-out mini-tournament. The other members of their group are Minsk and Breiðablik.

In what will be the opening match of the coming season in the UEFA Women's Champions League, Eintracht Women will face Sporting CP, who finished second in the Portuguese top flight last time out. This match will be a first-round semi-final, in what is a mini-tournament played on a knock-out basis. The other semi-final in the group will pit FC Minsk against Breidablik, with the two winners then playing off to see who finishes first, while the losers will face off for third place.

UEFA have announced that Breiðablik FC will be hosting the mini-tournament, with matches played at the Kópavogsvöllur Stadium. The various semi-finals will be played on Wednesday 4 September, while the finals and third-place play-offs will take place on Saturday 7 September.

“I think we’ve been drawn in a very interesting group with Minsk and Breidablik, and given a tough start against Sporting CP,” said head coach Niko Arnautis. “Facing off against the runners-up in the Portuguese league could well have been a final in this mini-tournament. In last year’s UWCL group stage, we faced Benfica, so we already have experience of facing Portuguese opposition, and that will no doubt help us come September. Sporting have a whole host of Portuguese internationals, and we know Cláudia Neto from her time with Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Nevertheless, we think that we stand a pretty good chance and we’ll be looking to go out there and win the group.”

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