Crystal Palace return to European action on Thursday, nearly four months on from the most memorable night in the club’s history.
It was on May 27 that Palace, then under the guidance of Oliver Glasner, beat Spanish side Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in Leipzig to secure the Europa Conference League.
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal just after half-time ensured an historic triumph for the Eagles as they followed up their FA Cup win the year previously. It marked a glorious and golden end to the short but hugely successful Glasner era.
Now, under new boss Pierre Sage, Palace are about to embark on a second European odyssey – this time in the Europa League. They have been handed a series of tricky games across their eight group stage matches, including Lyon and Besiktas away as well as home meetings with Real Sociedad and Hoffenheim.
But they begin their campaign with a favourable-looking home game as Polish side Lech Poznan travel to Selhurst Park. Speaking ahead of the clash, Sage said: “When people ask the question “Are you ambitious in this European Cup? Could you win it?” If you don’t have character, you cannot reply yes.
“I think to be a high-level team as we are, we need people with character. That’s why we choose the players in this way, and we manage it daily because if you want to compete, you need this kind of thing.”
As well as Glasner, a number of players have since left Palace since that famous night in Austria. Daniel Munoz followed his old boss to Nottingham Forest whilst Maxence Lacroix headed to Chelsea in a big-money deal. As for Mateta and Ismaila Sarr, they have been conspicuous by their absences with Mateta unseen since the opening day of the league season and Sarr yet to make any appearances at all. On last season’s top scorer Sarr, his manager said: “He could be in the team tomorrow, as could Eddie Nketiah, because they started to train with us this week, and they are in shape.”
Sage added: “We watched seven of Lech’s matches this season. We know they started quite early and had to pick themselves up after the defeat in the Champions League qualifiers. It’s never easy. I see a team that’s developing from match to match. We need to stay very focused so as not to get caught off guard.”
