Sunderland, Bournemouth Set for Europa League Clash with AC Milan

Sunderland and Bournemouth have been drawn against seven-time European champions AC Milan in the Europa League's league phase, as reported by the Europa League website on Friday. Sunderland, known as the Black Cats, will travel to the San Siro for their first European campaign since 1973 after finishing seventh in the Premier League last season.

They will participate in eight league-phase matches. Bournemouth will also face AC Milan, but their match will take place at home.

This marks Bournemouth's first foray into European football. Additionally, they will compete against Spanish side Real Sociedad among their eight league-phase opponents.

Crystal Palace, last season’s Conference League winners, have been assigned a challenging draw, facing Lyon, Real Sociedad, and Besiktas in their eight fixtures. This will be Crystal Palace's first appearance in the Europa League after being demoted from the competition last July for breaching multi-club ownership rules.

Scottish Premiership champions Celtic have also dropped into the Europa League following a recent defeat.