EXCLUSIVE Crystal Palace are set for their biggest football match ever on Wednesday evening – and one Premier League icon has hailed their “exceptional” season
Crystal Palace’s maiden European voyage will come to an end on Wednesday evening as the Eagles make one final trip across the continent – this time, however, it’s for the UEFA Conference League final.
Oliver Glasner’s side have navigated journeys to Bosnia, Cyprus, Italy and Ukraine en route to the showpiece at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany.
Now, they stand just 90 minutes away from a second major honour in as many seasons after stunning the footballing world by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final last May. Their opponents, like Palace, are relative newcomers to the European stage.
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Rayo Vallecano are enjoying their first continental campaign in more than two decades and have captivated supporters with a remarkable run to the first European final of the season.
“It gives clubs a platform,” Glenn Murray told Daily Star Sport when asked about the Europa Conference League. “It’s not only slightly smaller clubs. They qualified, so they deserve their place in it. But there are also big clubs in it, like Fiorentina.”
Now in its fifth season, Europe’s third-tier competition has revived some of the spirit of the old Cup Winners’ Cup, while also opening the door for clubs from lower-ranked nations to experience major European nights.
In recent seasons, teams from Iceland, Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands have all reached the group stages – exactly the kind of opportunity UEFA hoped the competition would create.
However, its winners are all European royalty: Roma, West Ham, Olympiacos and Chelsea. And Palace will be hoping to be the third English winners in Glasner’s final game.
Glasner announced at the beginning of the season that he would leave the Eagles this summer, bringing an end to a transformative spell in south London.
“I think that’s an exceptional output,” Murray added. “If they were to win the FA Cup, the Community Shield and possibly a European trophy…
“Especially when you take into consideration the talent they’ve lost while he’s been in charge of the football club!”
Palace have become somewhat of a talent factory – Michael Olise is now one of the main men at Bayern Munich; Marc Guéhi did the domestic double at Manchester City, while Eberechi Eze was part of Arsenal’s title-winning team.
If Glasner can complete the Palae fairytale or not, their run to Leipzig has already altered perceptions of what the club can achieve.