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Bournemouth, Sunderland to face AC Milan in Europa League / Photo: © AFP
Bournemouth, Sunderland to face AC Milan in Europa League
English duo Bournemouth and Sunderland were both handed a glamour tie against AC Milan among their eight matches in the Europa League as the draw for this season's league phase took place on Friday.
Bournemouth are featuring in a continental competition for the first time after finishing sixth in last season's Premier League, and can look forward to hosting seven-time European champions Milan on the south coast of England.
The team coached by Marco Rose will also play home games against Czech club Viktoria Plzen, Sturm Graz of Austria and Israeli champions Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
In addition, they will go to Spain twice to take on Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo, as well as visiting Sparta Prague and last year's Norwegian Cup winners Lillestrom.
Sunderland's seventh-placed finish in last season's Premier League gave them European football for the first time since 1973, and their supporters can look forward to a trip to San Siro.
They will also visit former UEFA Cup winners Anderlecht, have home games against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, Dinamo Zagreb and Levski Sofia, and play two Polish clubs in the shape of Jagiellonia Bialystok and Lech Poznan.
In addition, they will visit Torreense, the tiny second-division side who were shock winners of last season's Portuguese Cup.
Torreense are from the town of Torres Vedras, 50 kilometres north of Lisbon, but are set to host European matches at the Estadio do Algarve, just outside Faro.
Like their fellow English sides, last season's UEFA Conference League winners Crystal Palace were among the third pot of seeds.
Now coached by Frenchman Pierre Sage, the South London club will face Real Sociedad, Sparta Prague, Lech Poznan and German outfit Hoffenheim at home.
They will go to Lyon, Salzburg and Jagiellonia, and also head to Istanbul to take on Besiktas.
Celtic were forced to settle for a berth in the Europa League after a spectacular collapse in losing to LASK of Austria in the Champions League play-offs.
The Scottish champions will notably play host to Marseille and visit Benfica, with Celta Vigo, Besiktas and Torreense among their other opponents.
Other sides to look out for in this season's Europa League include Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus, the latter three-time winners of the tournament's predecessor, the UEFA Cup.
Fixture dates for the league phase will be announced by UEFA over the weekend, but the first matches will be played on September 16 and 17.
This season's final will be played in the German city of Frankfurt on May 26, 2027.
Aston Villa won last season's Europa League by beating Freiburg in the final in Istanbul.
J.L. de Oliveira--JDB
