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Sunderland drawn against AC Milan in Europa League as 53-year European exile ends
The Black Cats will travel to the San Siro for their first European campaign since 1973, headlining a dramatic return to continental football.
Sunderland’s return to European football will feature a trip to one of the most iconic stadiums on the continent. The Black Cats have been drawn against AC Milan in the Europa League league phase, setting up a visit to the San Siro that would have seemed like pure fantasy just a few seasons ago.
The draw, conducted on 28 August 2026 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, handed Sunderland an eight-match schedule across the competition’s relatively new single-league-phase format. Milan is the marquee fixture, but the full slate includes AZ Alkmaar, Dinamo Zagreb, Anderlecht, Jagiellonia Białystok, Lech Poznań, Levski Sofia, and Torreense.
From the Championship to the San Siro
The last time Sunderland played in a European competition, Richard Nixon was still president. Their previous continental adventure came in the 1973-74 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, which means the club has waited more than half a century to hear its name called alongside Europe’s elite again.
That drought ended because of a seventh-place finish in the 2025-26 Premier League season, a result that was itself the culmination of one of English football’s more compelling revival stories. Sunderland climbed from the Championship to secure a Europa League spot in what amounts to a remarkably compressed timeline of upward momentum.
Manager Régis Le Bris has been the architect of that ascent. The Frenchman guided the club through a Premier League campaign that included notable victories against Chelsea, results that ultimately proved decisive in clinching European qualification.
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How the format works
The Europa League’s league phase structure places all 36 qualified teams into a single table. Each club plays eight matches, four at home and four away, against opponents drawn from different national associations.
The top eight finishers in that combined table advance directly to the knockout round of 16. Teams finishing between ninth and 24th enter a two-legged playoff round for the remaining spots. Everyone below 24th goes home.
What the draw means for Sunderland’s season
Matchday 1 of the league phase is scheduled for 16-17 September 2026, meaning Le Bris will need to balance European commitments with the demands of a Premier League campaign almost immediately after the domestic season begins.