Oliver Glasner Seeks Second European Trophy as Crystal Palace Face Rayo Vallecano in Conference League Final

The FA Cup triumph secured a place in the following season’s Europa League, but UEFA subsequently blocked Palace’s participation because then-owner John Textor also held shares in French club Olympique Lyon. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Palace’s appeal, and on 11 August 2025 the club was officially demoted to the Conference League.

A Controversial Re‑route to Europe

That administrative blow was compounded by the late summer sale of forward Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, a move that Glasner has repeatedly described as having "das Herz herausgerissen". A 1-2 league defeat at Sunderland shortly afterwards prompted a rare outburst in which the coach accused the club’s hierarchy of leaving his squad "völlig im Stich gelassen".

Despite the off‑field turbulence, Palace regrouped to mount a deep run in the Conference League. They navigated a path to Wednesday’s final, where they will meet a Rayo Vallecano side that finished eighth in La Liga and edged past Racing Strasbourg in the semi‑finals with two 1-0 victories.

For Glasner, the final represents an opportunity to join a select group of Austrian coaches who have claimed multiple European trophies. He already lifted the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, defeating Rangers in a penalty shootout to deliver the club’s first European title in more than four decades. That success, which also earned Frankfurt a maiden Champions League berth, placed him on the same trajectory as Ernst Happel, the legendary Viennese coach who won the European Cup with Feyenoord in 1970 and again with Hamburg in 1983.

A Manager Built for the Big Stage

Glasner’s own playing career was far less glamorous, spent almost entirely with SV Ried in the Austrian Bundesliga. Yet his managerial rise has been emphatic. He steered VfL Wolfsburg into the Europa League round of 16 in 2020 and into the Champions League a year later, before his memorable stint in Frankfurt.

The Conference League final will also be a farewell. In January, Glasner announced that he would leave Crystal Palace at the end of the current season. "Ich suche eine neue Herausforderung," he stated at the time, while expressing deep gratitude for his time in England. "Ich bin als Fremder gekommen und gehe als Südlondoner," he told the club’s fans.

His final home game, a 1-2 defeat to Arsenal on the last day of the Premier League season, became an emotional occasion. Glassner addressed the Selhurst Park crowd on the pitch, saying: "Wenn jemand an dich glaubt, ist das das beste Gefühl, das du haben kannst. Deswegen greifen wir am Mittwoch nach unserer dritten Trophäe."

One Last Hurrah in South London

The manager has repeatedly shown a forthright, ambitious personality. Following the FA Cup win he stressed the importance of backing european campaigns. "Wir alle hätten uns etwas mehr Unterstützung gewünscht," he said in November. "Wenn man zum ersten Mal europäisch spielt, sollte man investieren und nicht sparen."

Looking beyond the final, Glasner has remained tight‑lipped about his next move. With characteristic candour, he quoted former Austria international Toni Polster: "Ich will kein Denkmal. Darauf scheißen ja nur die Tauben." He intends to first fulfil his "Verpflichtungen als Vater und Ehemann" before deciding his future, saying, "dann wird man sehen".

Victory on Wednesday would give Crystal Palace their first European silverware and provide a storybook ending for a coach who has already delivered two domestic trophies in South London. Kick‑off at the Red Bull Arena is at 21:00 CET, with the match broadcast live on Canal+.