Crystal Palace yesterday won the club’s first European championship, beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the Uefa Conference League final in Leipzig.
France striker Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the rebound of a shot early in the second half to send retiring manager Oliver Glasner out in style and destroy Rayo’s own dreams of their first major prize, reports AFP.
Glasner leaves with a third title in two years as Palace manager — the most successful era in the club’s history — after crushing Rayo’s dreams of landing their first major silverware.
“I feel great,” Mateta told TNT Sports.
“First time in Europe, we nailed it! Now I wanna celebrate, I just wanna party.
“Man, I’m beat. I’ve done my best. “We gave everything and that’s why we won today.
The victory also fulfilled Glasner’s aim of returning Palace to the Europa League – the competition for which they qualified this season before getting caught out by multi-club ownership regulations and relegated to the Conference League.
The Austrian won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 and was again brilliant in the final rounds.
Palace capped their first full journey into European competition with a trophy after overcoming the loss of outstanding players Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi this season, and the aftermath from the latter’s January departure to Manchester City.
The France striker Mateta was the hero on the night and was a failed medical away from leaving Palace for AC Milan this winter.
Palace joined West Ham (2024) and Chelsea (2025) as the third London side in successive years to win the competition, underlining the Premier League’s unrivaled financial might.
Arsenal, Premier League champions and winners of the Europa League, can cap a clean sweep in Europe by overcoming Paris St Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Passed Fit Wharton
Palace were given a boost soon before kick-off as midfielder Wharton overcame an ankle problem to start.
The Rayo club, who were underdogs in their semi-final win against Strasbourg and are part of the same BlueCo consortium that owns Chelsea, arrived in Leipzig in rich vein of form, unbeaten in nine matches.
Rayo finished eighth in their local league and Palace 15th and victory on Wednesday was their last chance to get back to the European stage next season.
Alemao fired just wide of the post after 25 minutes to give Rayo the opening chance of the match.
Just before the interval Palace missed a glorious chance to open the scoring. Wharton sent in an inch-perfect cross over the Rayo defence but Tyrick Mitchell’s header sailed just wide.
Palace gradually regained their groove and the game erupted into life early in the second half.
Rayo goalkeeper Augusto Batalla got two hands to Wharton’s powerful effort from the edge of the box but could only divert the ball into the path of Mateta who reacted swiftly to tap in.
Palace were almost two up moments later, Yeremy Pino hitting the post twice with a free-kick. Rayo somehow cleared it, the ball hitting the woodwork for a third time, this time a deflection off a defender.
In actuality Palace were rarely threatened after taking the lead and kept Rayo largely at bay, adding another trophy to last year’s breakthrough FA Cup win and the Community Shield at the start of this season.
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