Overview
No longer unfamiliar with European nights, Oliver Glasner - who once led Eintracht Frankfurt to win the Europa League in 2022 after a victory over Rangers - is now facing the opportunity to leave Crystal Palace in glory.
The relationship between the 51-year-old strategist and Palace's leadership has seen many rifts in recent months. However, Glasner is now only one match away from completing a hat-trick of titles in 12 months, after winning the FA Cup and Community Shield with the "Eagle" in 2025.
Although struggling to overcome the Conference League group stage with 10th place, Crystal Palace played more and more sublimely in the knockout round. The Premier League representative successively surpassed Zrinjski Mostar, AEK Larnaca, Fiorentina and Shakhtar Donetsk to advance to the final. Palace is also the team with the most goals in the league with 25 goals, including 14 goals in the knockout round.
However, the domestic form of the London team has clearly declined. Since the victory over Shakhtar, Palace has not won in 4 consecutive matches in the Premier League, closing the season with a 1-2 defeat to Arsenal and only finishing in 15th place.
In the opposite direction, Rayo Vallecano also considers the final match in Leipzig as the only opportunity to return to the European arena next season, after missing the top 7 La Liga spot and being only one point behind Getafe.
Unlike Palace, Rayo avoided the play-offs thanks to finishing the group stage in 5th place. However, their journey was still full of tension when they continuously experienced breathtaking confrontations in the 1/8 and quarter-finals.
Inigo Perez's team both won the first leg but lost the second leg in both rounds, before showing their bravery against Strasbourg in the semi-finals with two wins with the same score of 1-0 to win a ticket to the European final for the first time.
Rayo Vallecano entered the historic match with full confidence. The 1-3 defeat to AEK Athens in the second leg of the quarter-finals was their last defeat in all competitions. Since then, the La Liga representative has gone through a 9-match unbeaten streak, winning 6 of these.
In the final round of La Liga, Rayo also created a great morale boost when defeating Deportivo Alaves 2-1 thanks to Randy Nketa's 90th-minute goal, thereby having a perfect warm-up for the most important match in the 101-year history of the club.
Personnel situation
Glasner's decision to bring Adam Wharton on in the second half of the match against Arsenal backfired when the England international only played 16 minutes before having to leave the field due to an ankle injury. However, Wharton's problem is not considered too serious and he still has a chance to play in the final.
Palace's attack still brings great confidence thanks to Ismaila Sarr's explosive form. The Senegalese striker has scored in all 5 recent matches in the Conference League and is currently leading the top scorer list of the tournament with nine goals.
On Rayo Vallecano's side, the Spanish team also suffered personnel losses in the final round of La Liga when Carlos Martin left the field early against Alaves due to a back injury. However, this winger has returned to training and is likely to still be in the starting lineup.
Expected lineup:
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Riad, Lacroix, Canvot, Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell, Sarr, Mateta, Pino.
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla, Ratiu, Ciss, Lejeune, Chavarria, Lopez, Valentin, De Frutos, Palazon, Espino, Alemao.
The match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano takes place at 2:00 a.m. on May 28 (Vietnam time).
