Crystal Palace will face Lyon, Sparta Prague, Real Sociedad, RB Salzburg, Lech Poznan, Jagiellonia, Hoffenheim and Besiktas in the Europa League initial league phase.Their first opponent drawn was Pierre Sage’s former club Lyon, the side whose qualification last season saw Palace denied entry to the competition for breaching UEFA’s multi-club ownership (MCO) rules. Palace, who competed in the UEFA Conference League instead, will travel to France for the tie.This is the club’s first venture into the Europa League for the first time after winning the Conference League, triumphing 1-0 in Leipzig over Rayo Vallecano in May’s final having navigated some awkward matches in the group stages.New manager Sage has experience of managing in Europe with Lyon in the 2024-25 season, leading them out of the group stages of this same tournament before his sacking in January 2025.Palace will be eager to build on the success of their maiden European campaign, but the Europa League is a more challenging competition with stronger teams and that will limit expectations if not their aspirations.That might, in theory, suit Palace better given they struggled against teams playing more defensively last season under Sage’s predecessor Oliver Glasner.Here is what you need to know about their upcoming Europa League campaign.Palace’s league phase fixturesThe order, dates and time of the matches are to be announced no later than Sunday August 31, but these are Palace’s fixtures.Real Sociedad (home)