Sunderland and Bournemouth draw AC Milan in Europa League

Sunderland will mark their first European campaign since 1973 with a trip to the San Siro after drawing AC Milan in the Europa League.

The Black Cats, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will face the seven-time European champions in one of their eight league-phase matches.

Bournemouth have also been handed a tie against the Italians, although theirs will be on home soil.

The Cherries, who have qualified for European football for the first time, will also face Real Sociedad among their eight games.

Last season's Conference League winners Crystal Palace have been handed arguably the toughest draw out of the three Premier League teams, with Pierre Sage's side set up for meetings with Lyon, Real Sociedad and Besiktas.

It will be the first time Palace have competed in the Europa League, having been demoted from the competition last July for breaching multi-club ownership rules.

Scottish Premiership champions Celtic, who fell into the Europa League after surrendering a four-goal lead against LASK in the Champions League play-off tie earlier this week, will take on Marseille, Benfica and Besiktas.

In the Conference League, Brighton's draw includes fixtures against AS Monaco and Spanish side Getafe.

Hearts have also been drawn against Monaco and will also face a trip to Mohamed Salah's Trabzonspor.

The Europa League final will take place in Frankfurt on 26 May, with the Conference League equivalent taking place six days later in Istanbul.

Sunderland: AZ Alkmaar (home), AC Milan (away), GNK Dinamo (home), Anderlecht (away), Jagiellonia (home), Lech Poznan (away), Levski Sofia (home), Torreense (away)

Bournemouth: AC Milan (home), Real Sociedad (away), Viktoria Plzen (home), Sparta Praha (away), Sturm Graz (home), Celta Vigo (away), Hapoel Be'er Sheva (home), Lillestrom (away)

Crystal Palace: Real Sociedad (home), Lyon (away), Sparta Praha (home), Salzburg (away), Lech Poznan (home), Jagiellonia (away), Hoffenheim (home), Besiktas (away).

Celtic: Marseille (home), Benfica (away), Ferencvaros (home), Union SG (away), Celta Vigo (home), Omonia (away), Besiktas (home), Torreense (away)

Conference League fixtures

Brighton: Monaco (home), Panathinaikos (away), Craiova (home), Getafe (away), Kauno Zalgiris (home), Jablonec (away).

Hearts: Monaco (home), Pafos (away), Borac (home), Trabzonspor (away), Nordsjaelland (home), Thun (away)

How does the league phase work?

In the Europa League, each of the 36 teams will play eight different teams, four at home and four away, in the league phase.

The teams who finish in the top eight will automatically qualify for the round of 16, while those who finish between ninth and 24th will face off in a two-legged knockout tie in the play-off round.

Teams who finish 25th and below will be eliminated from the competition and will not be able to drop into any other European competitions.

In the Conference League, the format of the league phase has the 36 teams playing six games, three at home and three away.

And like the Europa League, the top eight progress to the last 16, while teams finishing between ninth and 24th enter the play-offs.

In the Europa League last season, Aston Villa went on to win the title.

In the Conference League, Crystal Palace had to overcome Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar in the play-off round after finishing 10th in the league phase.

The Eagles then beat AEK Larnaca, Fiorentina and Shakhtar Donetsk in the knockout rounds before defeating Rayo Vallecano in the final in Leipzig to win their first European trophy.

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