Sunderland face a glamour trip to AC Milan in their first European season in 52 years, while Bournemouth will host the Italian giants at the Vitality Stadium on their Europa League debut. Crystal Palace face Lyon while Celtic play fellow European champions Benfica in the league phase.
Bournemouth, who finished sixth in the Premier League last season, will welcome Ruben Amorim’s Milan to the south coast and also travel to Real Sociedad. The Cherries also face Viktoria Plzen, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz, Celta, Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Lillestrom.
Sunderland’s fans are rewarded with a trip to the San Siro as the Black Cats return to European competition for the first time since 1973-74. After finishing seventh in the Premier League last season, Sunderland also play AZ Alkmaar, GNK Dinamo, Anderlecht, Jagiellonia, Lech Poznan, Levski Sofia and Torreense.
Crystal Palace, Conference League winners last season, host Real Sociedad and travel to Lyon, while also playing Sparta Prague, Red Bull Salzburg, Lech Poznan, Jagiellonia, Hoffenheim and Besiktas, in Istanbul.
After their painful defeat in Champions League play-offs, Celtic host Marseille and will travel to Lisbon, the scene of their historic 1967 European Cup victory, to face Benfica. Martin O’Neill’s side also take on Ferencvaros, Union SG, Celta, Omonia, Besiktas and Torreense.
In the Conference League, Brighton play Monaco, Panathinaikos, U Craiova, Getafe, Kauno Zalgiris and Jablonec. Heart of Midlothian will also host Monaco, as well as playing Pafos, Borac, Mohamed Salah’s Trabzonspor in Turkey, FC Nordsjælland and Thun.
Follow along for all the updates from the Europa League draw with our live blog below:
Hurzeler reacts to Conference League chances
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler addressed whether his team can win the Conference League this season.
He said: “In every cup competition you have chances so of course, in certain moments you need a little bit of luck, a little bit of momentum but overall I think the success from the English teams is also the belief, the confidence to do it so we know it is a different year, a different area so let’s see how it’s going this season.”
Dates for Europa League fixtures
Teams will now need to wait until Sunday to find out the dates and kick off times of the fixtures they will play.
But, all games in the league phase will be played over these dates:
Matchday 1: 16/17 September 2026
Matchday 2: 15 October 2026
Matchday 3: 22 October 2026
Matchday 4: 5 November 2026
Matchday 5: 26 November 2026
Matchday 6: 10 December 2026
Matchday 7: 21 January 2027
Matchday 8: 28 January 2027
Intriguing fixtures await
We’re still cycling through all the fixtures from both draws.
For Uefa’s standards getting through both of them inside an hour is incredible.
From the Europa League the fixtures that stand out to me are Crystal Palace and Bournemouth taking on Real Sociedad.
Bournemouth hosting AC Milan and Sunderland travelling to the San Siro to face the same opponent.
Celtic coming up against Marseille and Benfica.
Hearts will face…
Over to pot 4 now and the fate of Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian.
They’ll face…
Monaco (h), Pafos (a), Borac (h), Trabzonspor (a), Nordsjaelland (h), Thun (a).
A trip to take on Mo Salah and co. is on the cards for the Scottish side.
Brighton will face…
Okay, here we go for Brighton and their league phase fixtures.
They will face…
Monaco (h), Panathinaikos (a), U. Craiova (h), Getafe (a), Kauno Zalgiris (h), Jablonec (a)
Conference League draw
There Conference League draw is underway and the teams in Pot 1 (of 6) are learning their opponents first.
We are waiting for Brighton in Pot 2 and Hearts in Pot 4.
Conference League draw just about to start
The Conference League draw is coming quickly on the heels of the Europa League one.
The only British interest here is Brighton & Hove Albion who are in pot 2, and Heart of Midlothian, who are in pot 4.
We’ll update you on who they are drawn against plus we’ll have the results of both draws in full shortly.
Celtic will face…
Marseille (h), Benfica (a), Ferencvaros (h), Union SG (a), Celta Vigo (h), Omonia (a), Bestikas (h), Torreense (a)
Sunderland will play…
AZ Alkmaar (h), Milan (a), GNK Dinamo (h), Anderlecht (a), Jagiellonia (h), Lech Poznan (a), Levski Sofia (h), Torreense (a)
