Glasner urges Palace to win Conference League final as his parting gift in Leipzig

Oliver Glasner has called on Crystal Palace to win Wednesday’s Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, saying the greatest leaving gift his players could give him would be the chance to watch them compete in the Europa League next season.

The Austrian, whose tenure at Selhurst Park ends when the final whistle blows at the Red Bull Arena, addressed his squad at a farewell gathering on Tuesday evening in Saxony. He told them that victory would not just mean a trophy — it would secure European football at a higher level than the one they have spent this season competing in.

“For me, the best thing would be, of course, winning tomorrow, but not for winning tomorrow, but because then they plan European football in the Europa League next year,” Glasner said. “They would get next year what we should have gotten this year. Then I said I would like to watch on TV that they would start their Europa League with the desire and the confidence that they can win the Europa League as well.”

Glasner added that the mindset he has tried to build at Palace was more important to him than any single result. “This would make me really happy, because then I think we created a mindset at the end that is always successful. That doesn’t mean that you win a trophy every single year, but at the end you will always get the best out of every single player and every single team.”

Palace chairman Steve Parish has publicly credited Glasner with elevating the club to levels it has not previously reached, and the manager used his pre-final press conference to reinforce that ambition one final time. The south London side are 90 minutes away from a first major European trophy, with Rayo Vallecano the only obstacle standing between them and a place in next season’s Europa League group stage.