Crystal Palace: Eagles on verge of ‘unbelievable’ glory after reaching Conference League final
Crystal Palace They desperately didn’t want to be in the Conference League – now they are one game away from winning and creating more club history.
In one of the club’s greatest nights to date at a passionate and raucous Selhurst Park, the Eagles beat Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 to seal a 5-2 aggregate victory in the semi-finals.
The duo’s remarkable European journey began in a Swiss courtroom as they won the FA Cup and Community Shield at Wembley in 2025 and failed in their bid to be relegated from the second-tier Europa League to the Conference League.
But since then the Palace hasn’t looked back.
They went to Norway, Poland, France, the Republic of Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Italy and returned to Poland; There is one last stop left: the final in Germany.
And if Palace lift the trophy against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano, who beat Gary O’Neil’s Strasbourg 2-0 on aggregate in the semi-final in Leipzig on Wednesday, May 27, it will complete an unprecedented phase of success for the club.
Boss Oliver Glasner, who will leave in the summer after only being appointed in February 2024, is on the verge of a third trophy in a remarkable period.
Even the 51-year-old man couldn’t believe what had been achieved.
“I talked to the president before the game, he always comes to my office,” Glasner said afterwards.
“And I said, ‘Do you think we’ll ever play in the semi-finals of a European competition?’ I said. ‘No,’ he said.
“I said, ‘I didn’t think about that when we first talked three years ago. If you work hard and stick together in the tough moments, that’s what you’ll achieve; we’ve had a few ourselves. If you stick together in the tough moments, you’ll get the reward.’
