Bournemouth and Sunderland Begin European Adventures Against Milan

Bournemouth’s first steps into Europe will be taken under the brightest of spotlights. Seven-time European champions Milan are coming to Dean Court. For a club that finished 19th in League One the season Milan last lifted the Champions League, it is the kind of tie that once belonged firmly in fantasy. Now it sits on the south coast’s autumn calendar.

The visit of Milan headlines a Europa League league-phase schedule that will test Bournemouth’s nerve and depth. Viktoria Plzen, Sturm Graz and Hapoel Be’er Sheva will also make the journey to Dorset, turning the compact ground into a revolving door of contrasting styles and stories. Hapoel’s appearance carries its own footnote: no Israeli club has played in England since Aston Villa faced Maccabi Tel Aviv last November.

For Marco Rose and his side, the glamour is not confined to home. Trips to Real Sociedad, Sparta Prague, Celta Vigo and Lillestrøm promise hostile crowds, long flights and the sort of footballing education that only European travel can provide. The club that once scraped around the lower leagues now finds itself mapping out routes to San Sebastián and Vigo.

Sunderland back on the big stage

Sunderland’s return to Europe after more than half a century comes with its own marquee assignment. They will walk out at San Siro to meet Ruben Amorim’s Milan, a journey that reconnects the Stadium of Light with a continental stage it has not graced since the 1973-74 campaign.

Their programme is heavy on tradition and awkward away days. Sunderland will visit Anderlecht, Lech Poznan and Portuguese second-tier side Torreense, a reminder that European competition still throws up unfamiliar corners of the map. At home, they welcome AZ, Dinamo Zagreb, Jagiellonia Bialystok and Levski Sofia, a mix of savvy operators and ambitious outsiders that will test Tony Mowbray’s squad management and the patience of a fanbase hungry for nights to remember.

Sage returns to Lyon as Palace step up

Crystal Palace enter the Europa League with a storyline ready-made. Pierre Sage heads back to Lyon, the club he coached between 2023 and 2025, now leading a Palace side that earned their place by winning last season’s Conference League. The tie offers emotional subtext as well as tactical intrigue: a coach returning to familiar corridors, this time in opposing colours.

The shared history runs deeper than the dugout. John Textor, once a part-owner at Palace and now president of Lyon, links the clubs at boardroom level, giving the fixture a boardroom edge to match the on-pitch stakes.

Selhurst Park will see its own parade of European visitors. Real Sociedad, Lech Poznan, Sparta Prague and Hoffenheim are all bound for south London, each bringing a different tactical puzzle. Palace’s away itinerary is no gentler: Red Bull Salzburg, Jagiellonia and Besiktas offer intensity, noise and environments where any lapse is punished.

Celtic regroup after Champions League blow

Celtic’s Europa League route arrives as a form of redemption after their Champions League playoff collapse against Lask. The wound is fresh; the response must be sharp. Glasgow will host Marseille, Ferencvaros, Celta and Besiktas, a run of fixtures that feels closer to a Champions League group than a consolation prize.

The road will be unforgiving. Trips to Benfica, Omonia, Union Saint-Gilloise and Torreense ensure a demanding travel schedule, from Lisbon to Nicosia and on to Belgium and Portugal again. For a squad still smarting from what slipped away, these games offer the quickest way to rewrite the narrative of their season.

Brighton savour first Conference League adventure

Brighton, fresh from easing past Tromsø in their playoff, step into their first Conference League campaign with a sense of curiosity and opportunity. The reward is immediate: Monaco come to Sussex, a tie that feels made for a club whose recent rise has been built on ambition and smart planning.

Universitatea Craiova and Kauno Zalgiris will also travel to the south coast, bringing Romanian and Lithuanian opposition to a fanbase still getting used to European routines. Brighton’s away schedule features Panathinaikos, Getafe and Jablonec, the Czech side who knocked out Rangers on Thursday. None of those grounds will be forgiving. All of them will be instructive.

Hearts head for Salah’s Trabzonspor

Hearts, embarking on a third straight Conference League proper campaign, have been handed one of the competition’s standout trips: a visit to Mohamed Salah’s Trabzonspor. The Turkish side’s fervent home support and star power guarantee an intimidating night, the kind of occasion that can either scar or steel a squad.

There is more mileage ahead. Pafos and Thun await, adding Cypriot and Swiss chapters to Hearts’ recent European story. Tynecastle, never shy on atmosphere, will host Monaco, Borac Banja Luka and Nordsjælland, offering Edinburgh supporters another run of continental evenings under the lights.

Across the board, English and Scottish clubs have been dealt campaigns rich in narrative and risk. The fixtures are set; only the dates remain to be inked in this weekend. Soon enough, airports, anthems and floodlights will take over, and these draws will turn into defining nights.