Bournemouth will host Milan and visit Spain twice in the first phase of the Europa League this season to take on Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo.
This is the club’s first European campaign after a phenomenal rise since playing in League Two, England’s fourth tier, as recently as 2010.
It is the result of continued improvement over three seasons under former coach Andoni Iraola, with Bournemouth finishing 12th in the Premier League in 2023-24, ninth in 2024-25 and sixth last season, breaking their top-flight points record on each occasion.
Iraola left for Liverpool in the summer, with Marco Rose — who has experience managing in the Europa League and Champions League from his time at RB Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach — now leading them into uncharted territory.
Matches
Milan (home)
Real Sociedad (away)
Viktoria Plzen (home)
Sparta Prague (away)
Sturm Graz (home)
Celta Vigo (away)
Hapoel Be’er Sheva (home)
Lillestrom (away)
The dates of matches are expected to be announced on Saturday 29 August, and no later than the day following.
Which game most excites you?
Milan may not be the team they once were, but the prospect of the 19-time Serie A winners and seven-time European champions visiting the 11,300-capacity Vitality Stadium is mouthwatering. The two teams have never faced each other in a competitive fixture.
Bournemouth spent much of the 20th century wearing all-red, before shifting to their signature red and black kit in 1971, inspired by Milan’s dominance in Italy and on the continent in the 1950s and 1960s.
Bournemouth’s home shirt is inspired by Milan’s red and white kit (Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
Their travel schedule, which takes them to San Sebastian, Prague, Vigo and Lillestrom, includes visits to a few great cities, too.
Which game worries you?
Bournemouth will arguably face two of the five best non-English teams in the competition in Milan and Real Sociedad, even though they avoided Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Benfica from Pot 1. Avoiding defeat in both matches and winning at least one could prove crucial if they are to secure a top-eight finish and bypass the knockout play-offs.
Celta Vigo made the quarter-finals of this competition last season and cannot be underestimated, while Sparta Prague and Norway’s Lillestrom promise to be tricky grounds to visit, even if Bournemouth will back themselves to beat all three teams.
What is Rose’s biggest issue to confront in the tournament?
The Premier League’s financial firepower means the teams in the middle of the pack wield a significant advantage in recruitment and depth compared to their European counterparts.
Rose has options in midfield and attack, while signing Michele de Gregorio on loan from Juventus gives them a second competent goalkeeper alongside former Chelsea man Djordje Petrovic.
Marco Rose replaced Andoni Iraola after he left for Liverpool this summer (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Defensively, Bournemouth look thin behind Antonio Silva, Bafode Diakite and James Hill at centre-back and first-choice full backs Adrien Truffert and Juanlu Sanchez, so keeping those players fit for the latter stages will be crucial.
Which team do Bournemouth most want to avoid in the latter stages?
Juventus, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen stand out as favourites for this tournament, so avoiding them until as late as possible would be ideal.
Bournemouth do not have a great record against their fellow English sides in the competition, Crystal Palace and Sunderland, who will also expect to go deep. They have won just eight of 23 matches against Palace and two of 12 against Sunderland.
Against anybody else, Rose’s side will fancy their chances, given the German’s Europa League record (17 wins and eight draws in 32 matches) and the way he led Salzburg to the semi-finals in 2017-18.
The magnitude of the Vitality Stadium hosting European football will be lost on no one (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
What would be considered a successful finish?
The magnitude of Bournemouth qualifying for the Europa League will not be lost on their supporters. But the performances of Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace in recent years have set the bar high for English teams in these secondary European competitions.
Making the knockouts will be a success — reaching the quarter-finals or semi-finals should be cause for celebration.
Prediction time… how far will Bournemouth get?
I believe Bournemouth have the squad and manager to take them deep into the competition and that they will progress to the quarter-finals, with a chance to be one of the final four teams standing if they can survive the dreaded Thursday-Sunday schedule in the latter stages of the season without too many injuries.
