Europa League draw: Bournemouth, Sunderland get glamour ties with AC Milan

Teams playing in UEFA’s Europa League and Conference League find out their opponents as league phase draws made.English duo Bournemouth and Sunderland have both been handed glamour ties 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 Beersheba.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, 50km (31 miles) 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.