Crystal Palace are preparing for their first taste of continental football in years, having earned a place in this season's Europa League by virtue of lifting the Conference League title. The Eagles now await Friday's league phase draw, which will determine the eight opponents they face in the competition's revamped format.
The draw, scheduled for 12pm BST on August 28, will place Palace among 36 clubs split into pots based on UEFA coefficient rankings. With Palace currently sitting 85th in Europe's rankings, the south London club could find themselves in either pot 2 or pot 3, a detail still to be finalized before the ceremony gets underway. The Conference League draw will follow immediately afterward.
Seventeen sides have already secured automatic qualification for the tournament, joined by Palace as holders of last term's Conference League. Two other Premier League clubs, Sunderland and Bournemouth, also feature in the pool having qualified through their domestic league finishes. Under the competition's rules, Palace cannot be drawn against either of their English counterparts at this stage, and are limited to facing no more than two teams from any single association.
Among the notable names already confirmed for the competition are Italian heavyweights Juventus and AC Milan, German outfit Bayer Leverkusen, and Marseille, the storied French club chasing an 11th Ligue 1 crown in recent seasons. Other confirmed participants include AZ Alkmaar, Celta Vigo, Hoffenheim, Olympiacos, Real Sociedad, Rennes, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz, Torreense and Union Saint-Gilloise.
Given the pot structure, Palace's likely opponents from the top tier include Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, AC Milan, AZ Alkmaar and Olympiacos, meaning a possible glamour trip to the San Siro is on the cards. The remaining top-pot entrants will only be confirmed on Thursday evening, once the Champions League play-off round concludes.
Further down the seeding, Palace could also be paired with Real Sociedad, Marseille or Union Saint-Gilloise, sides who may land in either pot 1 or 2. Sparta Prague, Rennes and Sturm Graz are possibilities from the pot 2 or 3 bracket, while Celta Vigo, Hoffenheim and Torreense round out potential opponents from the lower section of the draw.
The overall 36-team field will not be finalized until later in the week, with several major clubs still fighting for their route into the competition. Teams eliminated from the Champions League play-off round — including Celtic, Fenerbahce, Lyon, Bodo/Glimt and Dinamo Zagreb among others — could drop into the Europa League picture. Meanwhile, a separate batch of clubs, among them Benfica, Besiktas, Salzburg, Trabzonspor and Ferencvaros, would only qualify for the Europa League by winning their own play-off ties.
For Crystal Palace, the coming draw represents a landmark moment as they embark on a new European adventure following their historic Conference League triumph. Manager and squad alike will be watching closely on Friday to discover the level of opposition awaiting them as they attempt to make their mark on Europe's second-tier club competition.
Based on reporting from Standard Sport (football).