Crossword Genius

Sad about European city on the Adriatic (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

trieste

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'city on the adriatic' is the definition.
'trieste' can be an answer for 'city' (I have seen 'Italian city' mean 'trieste' so perhaps 'city' could also mean 'trieste'). I am not sure about the 'on the adriatic' bit.

'sad about european' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'european' could be 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU) and 'e' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'triste' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for trieste that I've seen before include "somewhere in Italy" , "Italian border city" , "Italian Adriatic port" , "Italian seaport" , "Italian city, James Joyce's 13" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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