New Delhi, Aug. 29 -- NYON - Sunderland have not played European football since 1973. On Friday a draw in Switzerland sent them to the San Siro.

That is the tie of the round, and it is not close. AC Milan away, in a stadium that has held European Cup finals, for a club whose supporters have spent five decades watching other people's continental nights. The 2026-27 Europa League league phase draw produced a long list of fixtures on Friday, and most of them will be forgotten by September. That one will not.

The format spreads 36 clubs across a single table, each playing eight matches rather than the old six-team group. It is a system built to manufacture exactly this kind of pairing, throwing clubs from opposite ends of European football'...