”It will mean a lot to me”: Glasner previews Crystal Palace farewell in Conference League final | OneFootball

Crystal Palace have managed to navigate through long winless periods and the departure of their captain and manager to the Europa Conference League final – their outgoing boss knows this better than most do.

Oliver Glasner lauded his players’ effort and achievements in his final press conference as Eagles manager, before the side takes on Rayo Vallecano in a bid for a maiden European title, revealing just how much a second major trophy would mean.

”It would mean a lot, but not [just] for me personally,” he said. “I think especially for the players, for the group. I know how hard every single player, every single one of the staff worked throughout the season.

”It would be our 60th game of the season. It would mean a lot for me that we then could have a fantastic ending to the season. I really enjoyed it, and we all enjoyed this journey together.

”We will give our best to get a happy ending tomorrow.”

While the opportunity to add yet another piece of silverware to his sparkling time at the London club, the Austrain revealed that he had reminded his players of what awaits them if the trophy is lifted in Leipzig.

Glasner said: “I told the players today – I don’t like to say what I’m telling the players – they had a nice farewell to me, and then I said a few words.

“I said, ‘For me the best thing would be of course winning tomorrow, not for winning tomorrow, but because then they’d play in the Europa League next year’, and then they would get next year what we should have got this year.

“That doesn’t mean that you win a trophy every single year, but at the end, you will always get the best out of every single player and every single team, and that’s why I hope that we win tomorrow, and that these players can play European football next year again.”

The FA Cup winners were set to participate in this season’s Europa League, which was claimed by Aston Villa and the most successful manager in the competition, Unai Emrey, but were demoted to the Conference League by UEFA.

Palace were removed in July 2025 due to American businessman and Palace stakeholder John Textor’s 77% stake in French side Lyon, breaching UEFA’ rules against multi-club ownership.

One player that Glasner is likely to field to return Palace to the Europa League is Japan international Daichi Kamada, who featured in his Frankfurt team that won the Europa League in the 2021/22 season.

The Austrian described the midfielder as “a player for big games” and claimed he has delivered his best performances on high pressure occasions like this evening’s European final.

Glasner said: “We’ve worked together for four years now, two years at Frankfurt and it was the Europa League final he had a fantastic performance, also scoring a penalty.

“Then when we played Champions League football. We had to win at Sporting Lisbon, he scored the [goal to make it] 2-1, the penalty when we won and qualified for the round of 16 in the Champions League.

”Daichi seems to be a player for big games. Very often the bigger the game is, the better his performance is.

“He had a fantastic performance in the FA Cup final so it seems that the bigger the games are the better Daichi is, and hopefully he proves me right tomorrow.”

Glasner provided updates on other Palace players, particularly Chris Richards and Adam Wharton. Both are doubts for Wednesday’s game, but their boss confirmed that both have been ”available in training” and that a late call will have been made.

“Our final training session was 36 hours before the game,” Glasner said.

“Our medical department will be working hard, but we will only name a starting XI that is 100% fit. If either player doesn’t feel 100% fit or I have some concerns, they won’t start. The final decision will be taken on Wednesday.”

Tonight’s match up has the chance to be the perfect send off for Glasner as he bids farewell to the club, whose players could immortalize themselves as the first to ever win a major European competition in a Palace shirt.

The final between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano kicks off at 20:00 (GMT) at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena, and is available to watch live on TNT Sports.