AC Milan risk not facing the easiest path in their road to qualification for the Europa League group stages.
After finishing sixth in the Serie A table last season Milan will have to enter the second qualifying round, which will pair the Rossoneri with a team of much lower ranking, but as MilanLive notes the risk is a long and difficult away trip in September.
Milan have a 50% chance of being drawn at home, but could also face teams such as Neftci (Azerbaijan), B36 (Far Oer), Kaisar (Kazakhstan) or Bodo/Glimt (Norway) in what would be a long trip.
There are of course teams from neighbouring countries such as Albania, Slovenia or Switzerland which are much more comfortable.
Then, MilanNews note how because of the victories of APOEL, Malmo, Partizan and Steaua Bucaresti in the first qualifying round, there are sixteen clubs with a higher UEFA ranking than Milan.
On Monday there will be draw for the second round, while on Tuesday there will be the third, where the Rossoneri will be seeded. For Milan to be seeded in the final round (the Play-Off round), at least four teams with higher rankings than them must be knocked out.
There are only 13 seeded teams in the Play-Off round, which is why Milan risk being in the unseeded section. Four of the following teams must lose in order for Milan to be seeded:
Tottenham Hotspur, Basel, CP, Copenhagen, Wolfsburg, APOEL, BATE Borisov, Galatasaray, Malmö, Partizan, Standard Liège, Steaua Bucaresti, Granada.
