Sporting stunned by Ajax as Porto and Benfica register goalless draws

Primeira Liga champions Sporting have been rocked by defeat in their UEFA Champions League opener against Ajax, losing 5-1 at home to Amsterdam outift, this Wednesday.

Four goals from ex-West Ham United forward Sebastian Haller and an additional first-half finish from Steven Berghuis condemned Sporting to an embarrassing start to their European campaign, leaving them bottom behind the defeated Besiktas in Group C.

In the Spanish capital of Madrid, ten-man FC Porto were unable to go beyond a point in their first Champions League outing, against Atlético de Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, after Mehdi Taremi was unlucky to see a goal of his chalked off for handball.

Also destined for a goalless night was Benfica, who, this Tuesday, held onto draw 0-0 to share the spoils with Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine.

Sporting 1-5 Ajax

The Lions couldn’t have asked for a worse return to Champions League action after a Sebastian Haller brace left Sporting, without the likes of Sebastian Coates and Pedro Gonçalves, 2-0 down as early as the 8th minute.

Rúben Amorim’s men fought for their luck and clawed a goal back through Paulinho on the half-hour mark, but the hosts were pegged back soon after, with Steven Berghuis making it 3-1 to Ajax in the 38th minute.

Unlike the first half, Alvalade was left rocking after a blistering start that saw Paulinho nab a second with a looping header in the 47th minute, only for the tables to be turned on Sporting once more with the goal being ruled out for offside, just a couple of minutes before Haller made it 4-1 with his hat-trick.

It was Haller’s night as he upped his personal account to four and handed Sporting a shock 5-1 defeat at home, placing the Lisbon outfit bottom of Group C.

Atl. Madrid 0-0 Porto

A hard-fought and intense encounter was what the world expected between Atlético and Porto in Spain and the two Iberian sides offered just that in a first half of few chances.

The second period followed the same mantra until the Dragons were able to win the ball high up prior to Taremi fumbling the ball into the back of the net, as late as the 80th minute.

It wasn’t to be for Sérgio Conceição’s men, however, with VAR cancelling Taremi’s goal after a handball from the Iranian forward in his efforts evade the goalkeeper and finish, keeping things muted at 0-0 after Chancel Mbemba's late red card for the Portuguese side.

Dynamo Kyiv 0-0 Benfica

With some of the bigger names present in Group E, Benfica placed a great deal of importance on a victory away to Dynamo Kyiv, also keen to secure all three points in Ukraine.

Rafa Silva and Roman Yaremchuk were the danger-men for the visitors but it was Dynamo, via Mykola Shaparenko’s free-kick in the first half, who created the biggest opportunity of the opening exchanges, as the playmaker’s set-piece pinged off the bar.

There was even greater panic for Benfica to stomach in the second period after another effort found its way onto the crossbar, prior to a key save from Odisseas Vlachodimos and a fortunate Nicolás Otamendi intervention that shaved his own post to leave the Ukrainians in sheer agony.

Dynamo thought they had nicked it at the death with a back-post Shaparenko finish, but the midfielder’s goal was ruled out for offside, cementing a goalless draw between the two outfits.

By Patrick Ribeiro