Europa League and Conference League draws in FULL as Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Brighton learn fate

PREMIER LEAGUE clubs in the Europa League and Conference League have discovered their fate for the league phase of the competitions. England‘s five Champions League club’s discovered their opponents for the league phase of the competition on Thursday, and now the four clubs in the second and third tiers of European competition have followed suit. Premier League clubs including Sunderland have discovered their fate in the Europa and Conference League Credit: Getty Last years Conference League winners Crystal Palace were in the same pot as Sunderland in Bournemouth in the Europa League Credit: EPA Last year’s Conference League winners Crystal Palace were placed in Europa League pot three alongside Bournemouth and Sunderland, who qualified via sixth and seventh place finishes in the Premier League. This season will see south coast side Bournemouth embark on their first-ever season in European football. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Meanwhile, Palace and Sunderland are entering their maiden the Europa League campaigns. In the Black Cats case, they are competing in European competition for the first time in 53 years, when they played in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1973/74. Brighton, who last played European football in 2023/24, were the sole English side in the Conference League after finishing eighth in the Prem last season, and were placed in pot two for their draw. Crystal Palace landed fixtures against Lyon, Real Sociedad, RB Salzburg, Sparta Praha, Lech Poznan, Jagiellonia, Hoffenheim and Besiktas. Bournemouth were drawn against Italian giants AC Milan, Real Sociedad, Viktoria Plzen, Sparta Praha, Strum Graz, Celta Vigo, Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Lillestrom. Finally, Sunderland have been pitted against Milan, AZ Alkmaar, GNK Dinamo, Anderlecht, Jagiellonia, Lech Poznan, Levski Sofia and Torreense. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK In the Conference League, Brighton were then draw against Monaco, Panathinaikos, U. Craiova, Getafe, Kauno Zalgiris and Jablonec. Elsewhere, Scottish sides Celtic and Hearts were also in the Europa and Conference League draws respectively. Celtic, who bottled a 4-0 lead against Lask in Champions League qualifying to drop into the Europa League, will play Benfica, Marseille, Ferencvaros, Union SG, Celta Vigo, Omonia, Besiktas and Torreense. Meanwhile, Hearts will take on Monaco, Pafos, Borac, Mohamed Salah‘s Trabzonspor, Nordsjaelland and Thun. The full calendar across both competitions will be confirmed no later than August 30. Premier League teams have enjoyed lots of success in the European competitions second and third tiers, showing the strength of the English top flight. Tottenham and Aston Villa have won the last two Europa League finals, beating Manchester United and Freiburg respectively, while Chelsea and Man Utd have also both won the competition in the last decade. English clubs have won three of the five Conference League competitions since its inception in 2021/22. Bournemouth are embarking on their first ever European season Credit: Alamy Brighton are in the Europa League for the first time in three years Credit: Alamy West Ham were the first of these in 2022/23, before Chelsea won it in 2024/25 and Palace followed last season. That therefore bodes well for the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton, who have never won a top level major trophy. The first round of Europa League games will commence on 16/17 September and run through to matchday eight on 28 January 2027. In the case of the Conference League which has six games, the first will be on 15 October and end on 17 December. The Europa League final will be played in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 26, while the Conference League is decided on June 2 at Besiktas Park in Istanbul, Turkey. Comment now