Ruben Amorim's Europa League Return Pits AC Milan Against Sunderland and Bournemouth

Ruben Amorim now knows who he'll be facing in his first European campaign in charge of AC Milan. The draw for the new Europa League league phase, held in Monaco, handed him a matchup loaded with personal history: he'll host Sunderland at San Siro and travel to England's south coast to take on Bournemouth.

There's a quiet sense of payback in all this. Amorim lost the 2025 Europa League final during a 14-month stint at Manchester United that ended this past January, and it was far from a happy chapter. Now he's back in the competition, but wearing a different crest, with two English sides waiting for him in the expanded group stage.

Milan's schedule also includes a fixture with a distinct museum-piece feel: the club will host Benfica at San Siro, the very team the rossoneri beat in the 1990 European Cup final. Beyond the three points at stake, that match promises to be a treat for nostalgic fans of Italian soccer.

Juventus, Celtic and Other Notable Matchups

The other big Italian side in the draw, Juventus, ran into two Spanish clubs: Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo. The Turin club will also have to play a neutral-site match against Hapoel Beer Sheva of Israel, who for their part will have to crisscross half the continent: they'll visit AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands, Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium, Bournemouth in England and Besiktas in Turkey.

Crystal Palace will finally get its Europa League debut, a year after UEFA blocked the club's entry over shared-ownership ties with Lyon through American businessman John Textor. Now that Textor no longer has any connection to the French club (owned by another American businesswoman, Michele Kang), the two sides will meet without any conflict of interest: Lyon will host the Eagles.

Celtic drew a matchup with its own historical echo: the Scottish club will host Marseille and make two trips to Portugal, facing Benfica (the team Celtic beat in the 1967 European Cup final) and Torreense, the surprise Portuguese Cup champion that plays in the second division.

Bayer Leverkusen, which fell in the 2024 final after going unbeaten that season in both the Bundesliga and the Europa League up to that point, was drawn against two French clubs: Marseille and Lyon.

Matches in this league phase kick off on September 16 and 17, with the eighth and final matchday set for January 28. May's final will be hosted at Eintracht Frankfurt's stadium. In total, the 36 participating clubs will share a UEFA prize pool of 565 million euros (roughly $658 million).