When Sunderland were handed a trip to the San Siro to face AC Milan in the Europa League, they must have been relishing the chance to rub shoulders with such heavyweights. Yet by the time they travel to Italy to take on the Serie A giants on 10 December, they may be more concerned about the Premier League match against Nottingham Forest that comes just three days later. That is because last season's surprise package following promotion are now one of this campaign's strugglers.
They may be mixing it with illustrious big guns in Europe, but they are staring down the barrel of a relegation fight on the domestic front. Their 3-1 defeat by Coventry City on Saturday has kept Sunderland rock bottom of the table after nine games. Their situation could worsen significantly very soon, too.
Before they head to Milan, they face a daunting league programme of Chelsea (home), Aston Villa (away), Tottenham (home), Liverpool (away) and local rivals Newcastle (away), with home European games against Croatia's Dinamo Zagreb and Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok thrown into the mix. If they fail to cause some upsets in that run and others towards the bottom of the table pick up points, the Black Cats could be dangerously adrift before their dream trip to Milan. That is why their game against fellow slow starters Forest could turn out to be more important than the San Siro date.
The last time Sunderland won a Premier League game was against Fulham on 30 August - two days after the Europa League league phase draw, and a visit to Milan, was confirmed. While celebrating that victory and scouring for flights and hotels for their European adventure, surely Sunderland fans did not expect they would be heading into November having not won since in the league. Including an opening-weekend defeat by Ipswich, they have suffered six defeats with two draws.
"Very disappointed," said captain Granit Xhaka following the Coventry loss. "We are not doing the things that we have been speaking about; we are not doing the things that we are doing in training. We have no chance to win any games like this." Yet in Europe, all is well for the Black Cats.
They are ninth in that table, with only goal difference keeping them out of the top eight and a passage directly to the last-16 stage. They have two wins and a draw from their three games. And in the Carabao Cup, a 3-2 win over Brentford in midweek has set up a quarter-final against fellow league strugglers Crystal Palace.
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