{"id":245508,"date":"2026-05-27T22:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/stunning-redemption-over-euro-controversy-as-15th-placed-pl-club-makes-incredible-history\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T22:56:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:56:00","slug":"stunning-redemption-over-euro-controversy-as-15th-placed-pl-club-makes-incredible-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/stunning-redemption-over-euro-controversy-as-15th-placed-pl-club-makes-incredible-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Stunning redemption over Euro controversy as 15th-placed PL club makes incredible history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jean-Philippe Mateta scored as Crystal Palace beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the UEFA Conference League final in Leipzig on Wednesday to secure the club\u2019s first European trophy in their history.<\/p>\n

After a cagey opening half with few clear chances, Mateta turned in a rebound for the game\u2019s only goal on 51 minutes, sending departing coach Oliver Glasner off in style.<\/p>\n

Glasner departs with a third trophy in two years as Palace manager, the most successful period in the club\u2019s history, after dashing Rayo\u2019s hopes of landing their first major silverware.<\/p>\n

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Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now ><\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The win also completed Glasner\u2019s objective of returning Palace to the Europa League, the competition they qualified to play in this season before falling foul of multi-club ownership rules and being demoted to the Conference League.<\/p>\n

It was a controversy that Palace chairman Steve Parish made note of in the aftermath of the win, appearing to take a big swipe at Nottingham Forest who had succesfully pushed to take their spot in the Europa League <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s brilliant to get here and to get in to the Europa League where we deserve to be. It just shows that sometimes the good guys win in the end, I think,\u201d he told TNT Sports. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I bought the club I wasn\u2019t sure we\u2019d ever play in Europe, let alone win a trophy. It\u2019s a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Crystal Palace’s Spanish midfielder Yeremy Pino Norwegian striker Jorgen Strand Larsen.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, the Austrian Glasner, already a Europa League champion with Eintracht Frankfurt, once again showed his excellence in knockout competitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to the players, get now what you deserve after winning the FA Cup — the Europa League,\u201d Glasner told reporters after the match. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it\u2019s a one-year delay, the club, the fans, the players get what they deserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you have to take a detour, and now we\u2019re there.\u201d <\/p>\n

Palace overcame the sales of Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi this season, and the fallout from the latter\u2019s January exit, to cap their first full venture into European competition with a title.<\/p>\n

France striker Mateta, the hero on the night, was a failed medical away from leaving Palace for AC Milan this winter.<\/p>\n

Palace became third London side in as many years to win the competition, after West Ham in 2024 and Chelsea in 2025, demonstrating the Premier League\u2019s unmatched financial muscle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel fantastic. We did it. Our first time in Europe, I just want to celebrate,\u201d Mateta said on TNT Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible. I am tired right now, we gave everything, that\u2019s why we won today.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Aston Villa already Europa League winners, Premier League champions Arsenal can complete a clean sweep in European competition by beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Palace received a boost just before kick-off when midfielder Wharton overcame an ankle injury to start.<\/p>\n

Underdogs in their semi-final triumph over Chelsea\u2019s BlueCo stablemate Strasbourg, Rayo arrived in Leipzig riding a rich vein of form, unbeaten in nine matches.<\/p>\n

With Rayo finishing eighth and Palace 15th in their leagues, both knew victory on Wednesday was their only hope of returning to the European stage.<\/p>\n

Rayo had the first chance of the match when Alemao flashed just wide of the post with 25 minutes gone.<\/p>\n

Palace had a golden chance at an opener just before the break. Wharton looped an inch-perfect cross over the Rayo defence but Tyrick Mitchell\u2019s header floated just wide.<\/p>\n

The game burst into life early in the second half as Palace eventually found their stride.<\/p>\n

Rayo goalkeeper Augusto Batalla got two hands to Wharton\u2019s powerful shot from the edge of the box but could only parry into the path of Mateta, who reacted quickly to tap home.<\/p>\n

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Crystal Palace players celebrate. AP Photo\/Michael Probst<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Palace were inches from doubling their lead shortly after when Yeremy Pino slammed a free-kick which bounced off both posts, Rayo somehow clearing after the ball hit a defender and came off the woodwork for a third time.<\/p>\n

In truth, Palace were rarely troubled after taking the lead, keeping Rayo at bay and adding another trophy to last year\u2019s breakthrough FA Cup triumph and the Community Shield at the start of this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible. An amazing achievement. All the ups and downs,\u201d Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said on TNT Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo get to the Europa League, where we deserve to be. Just shows you sometimes the good guys win.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored as Crystal Palace beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the UEFA Conference League final in Leipzig on Wednesday to secure the club\u2019s first European trophy in their history. After a cagey opening half with few clear chances, Mateta turned in a rebound for the game\u2019s only goal on 51 minutes, sending departing coach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-245508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}