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54 mins: The Palace fans are having a party in the stands, as Sarr – who has taken a couple of knocks in the past minute or two – is fouled. This could be a good free-kick opportunity for someone …
It really was instinctive stuff from Mateta to score the rebound, with Batalla unable to parry Wharton’s fierce left-footed shot to safety.
Palace had started the second half with more purpose, but the goal came from nowhere really. And how apt that it comes from Mateta, who nearly left the club for Milan in January – and would have done if not for a failed medical.
ShareGOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Rayo Vallecano (Mateta, 51)
MATETA SCORES FOR PALACE!
It came from Adam Wharton’s shot and it was a poacher’s finish from the Frenchman, to cue bedlam in the stands.
49 mins: Another yellow card is shown to a Vallecano player, with Unai López booked for tripping Kamada.
A Palace passing sequence ends with Sarr slipping as he tried to drop deep to collect the ball.
48 mins: Palace really haven’t had much joy from Muñoz’s long throws so far. Is there a Plan B?
It’s pensive stuff for Crystal Palace fans watching at The Steel Yard, London. Photograph: John Walton/PAShare
Updated at 16.15 EDT
47 mins: Palace play their way out of trouble after Muñoz’s loose pass … good stuff from Mitchell to move the ball on quickly, almost finding Mateta. A sliding Lejeune gets it away for Rayo for a Palace throw-in.
We’re under way for the second half in Leipzig.
Should Glasner make any changes at the break? I’m not sure Wharton is 100% fit, but is it worth risking him in the hope he produces a pass like the one for Mitchell in first half stoppage time? There’s also Brennan Johnson on the bench, who has form in bagging the winner in a European final.
The players are about to re-emerge.
And now here’s a very good email summing up that dour first half, courtesy of Kári Tulinius
double quotation markOn the one hand, this is a match that has lived up to the promise of a contest between the eighth best side in Spain, and the 15th best in England. On the other, the atmosphere is as tense as town in an old western as a pair of gunslingers take up position at two ends of a street. Neither set of players have flinched yet, or tried to draw their pistols.
Who will blink first in the second half? That’s the intriguing question.
I received this excellent email from Daniel Storey during the first half re: the rise and rise of Crystal Palace:
double quotation markI wonder how many fans that were in the away at Edgeley Park that famous afternoon in 2001 when Dougie Freeman saved the club from an unknown future and the nightmare drop to Division 2 (now League 1), are also in Leipzig this evening? Hopefully all of them as that really was a siding doors moment in the Eagles’ history.
I bet if you told those Palace in Stockport that afternoon that would be playing in a European final after winning an FA Cup final within the next 25 years, they would have looked at you in disbelief and a questioned your sanity.
Stockport County fans: do not despair at your League One playoff final agony, perhaps you will be in a European final in 2050!
Updated at 15.55 EDT
HT: Crystal Palace 0-0 Rayo Vallecano
A half of few chances was defined by the one missed by Crystal Palace’s left wing-back right at the end of it. Tyrick Mitchell and the Eagles will hope they get more sight of goal in the second half.
Vallecano have been good value, in fairness, very tidy in possession and largely solid in defence. There really hasn’t been much to separate the teams. Plenty of thinking for both managers to do during the break.
Before that, I rated the Alemão chance as the best opportunity of the game… but Mitchell will surely be ruminating on that when the teams head in for half-time.
The camera pans to a few Palace fans in the ground with hands over faces. Yikes.
45 mins+2: Oh my, it should be 1-0 Palace!
It all suddenly got quite stretched and Palace have gone agonisingly close to clinching the lead, with Tyrick Mitchell heading wide from point-blank range. What a cross from Wharton it was to pick out the wing-back. Glasner was almost running off to celebrate.
Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell heads at goal. Photograph: Lisi Niesner/ReutersMitchell rues putting his header the wrong side of the upright. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PAShare
Updated at 15.54 EDT
We’ll have four minutes added on to the end of this first half. As it stands, it will not live too long in the memory.
It’s not quite been Tottenham v Manchester United in the Europa League final a year ago, but it’s not been much better.
44 mins: The referee hasn’t helped, by the way, doing little to prevent the stop-start nature of this game. Everything has been a foul.
A scrappy Palace attack ends with Kamada having a pot-shot but the officials spotted an infringement in the buildup. It looked like handball from Muñoz.
41 mins: The half is petering out a bit now.
But there will likely be a fair amount of added time. Wharton goes into the book for a late one on Palazon, for which he can have few complaints.
40 mins: Unai López sends a shot just wide of the post, quite an elegant effort actually with the side of his right foot, opening up his body. Palace have looked a bit sloppy since the restart.
We’re now back under way. Hopefully everyone involved in the stands is OK.
38 mins: A number of stewards are now attending what we’re being told is a medical emergency in the stadium. The Rayo Vallecano players appear to be saying they don’t want to restart the game, despite the referee’s instructions. A bit of confusion here.
Another delay now… it looks like someone in the stands may need urgent attention.
35 mins: Wharton has been barged to the ground twice in the past minute or two and on neither occasion did he get the decision from referee Maurizio Mariani. The English midfielder is starting to vent his frustration to the officials.
Vallecano definitely have a plan to get physical with Wharton, trying to unsettle him.
33 mins: Sarr gets a bit of attention from the physios but it looks like he’ll be fine.
Palace have to start creating a bit more, as Glasner uses this delay to communicate a message or two to his men.
32 mins: Riad steps in at the apt moment – once again – but Palace are having trouble working that opportunity in the final third. Mateta really isn’t getting much space, with Lejeune and Ciss staying ultra-tight to the Eagles’ centre-forward.
Sarr is down with an apparent injury. This doesn’t look great.
30 mins: In fact, whatever the result tonight I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two of these Vallecano players in the Premier League at some point in the near future.
Palace having to do a bit of defending at present.
28 mins: Yeah, this isn’t proving the straightforward Crystal Palace victory that so many people predicted … it’s tight. Very tight.
27 mins: Nice stuff from Kamada, dovetailing with Wharton and then his wing-backs, to keep things ticking for Palace, looking to pick the lock in the Vallecano defence.
The cross from the right flank ends up hitting Mitchell and bouncing harmlessly wide.
25 mins: Chance for Alemão! Not sure he was ready for that cross from Chavarria from the left, but he did react well enough and directed a cushioned volley just past Dean Henderson’s post. That’s the best chance of the game so far.
Updated at 15.27 EDT
24 mins: Unai López’s corner evades just about everyone, until Palazon tackles Mitchell on the far side and gets nothing of the ball – and a yellow card for his troubles. That’s two bookings already in this match, both for Rayo Vallecano players.
Rayo Vallecano’s Isi Palazon fouls Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell before being shown a yellow card. Photograph: Annegret Hilse/ReutersShare
Updated at 15.40 EDT
22 mins: Batalla rushes off his line to collect the ball before Sarr has the chance to latch onto Wharton’s through-ball. Good goalkeeeping.
At the other end, Vallecano have their first corner of the game, conceded by Lacroix.
21 mins: Palace are appealing for a possible red card for Ciss here, after the centre-back felled Pino… the challenge took place a good 40 yards from goal, so I don’t see how anything more than a yellow – which is the referee’s decision – can be brandished.
19 mins: Before that, Canvot and Riad either side of Maxence Lacroix had actually looked very solid. Neither of the two young defenders started the season in Glasner’s first choice defence, but the sale of Marc Guehi and the recent injury to Chris Richards has meant this huge opportunity has landed in their laps.
17 mins: Jaydee Canvot is caught napping trying to shepherd the ball out of play and it almost presents Vallecano with a presentable shooting chance. Eeesh.
16 mins: The corner is swung in from the right with Palace looking to crowd Vallecano goalkeeper Batalla in the goalmouth. According to the referee, the Eagles have been a little over zealous with that tactic, as the Spanish side are granted a cheap free-kick.
Incoming! Photograph: Oliver Hardt/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 15.27 EDT
14 mins: Pep Chavarría stayed down for a while clutching his ankle after a tangle with Daniel Muñoz as Palace attacked down their right. They now have their first corner.
13 mins: Yep, Vallecano are certainly showing they are no mugs in possession. There has been no penetration from the Spanish outfit yet, but they’re seeing enough of the ball.
11 mins: Lejeune times his tackle perfectly from centre-back and gets Vallecano forward on the counter. Their attack fizzles out, however, with Henderson coming off his line to make a good catch from Ratju’s high cross.
9 mins: Wharton has already been bundled over a couple of times. I suspect Vallecano’s plan is to shut down the former Blackburn midfielder as quickly as they can.
8 mins: Rayo are enjoying their best spell of the game so far, with the play often funnelling itself through Palazon in the No 10 role, that distinctive stocky bald-headed figure.
Palace are easily able to hold them at arm’s length.
Crystal Palace fans who were unable to get tickets/travel to Liepzig, watch the Conference League final on big screens at Selhurst Park. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/ReutersShare
Updated at 15.21 EDT
6 mins: Palace recycle it well after Wharton’s free-kick is nodded away, with the Premier League team trying to pin Rayo Vallecano in. Muñoz has another long-throw opportunity here … which again comes to very little.
4 mins: Mateta capitalises on a slip in the Vallecano defence and tries to slip it through to the onrushing Sarr. The Palace striker delayed that pass for too long, but the Eagles do have a free-kick here after a foul by Oscar Valentin on Pino.
Crystal Palace’s Yeremy Pino is felled by Rayo Vallecano’s Oscar Valentin (on floor). Photograph: Lisi Niesner/ReutersShare
Updated at 15.17 EDT
3 mins: Both teams have shown an early indication to lump it long when necessary. No tippy-tappy stuff from either of these sides, it seems.
1 min: Rayo Vallecano are on a run of nine games unbeaten, last tasting defeat on 16 April – and that was in the Conference League against AEK Athens when they were already leading 2-0 from the first leg.
An early chance for Muñoz to throw it long doesn’t lead to anything for Palace.
ShareKICK OFF
Here we go. Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano are competing in a European final.
That’s the first time we’ve ever been able to say that.
Oliver Glasner and Iñigo Pérez have embraced, the players have shaken hands and the tifos have been displayed. There’s a great noise inside this stadium in Leipzig tonight.
Let’s do this thing.
It’s time for a tifo off. Photographs: Friedemann Vogel/EPA Photograph: Friedemann Vogel/EPAShare
Updated at 15.03 EDT
The pre-match ceremony/music/dancing is almost complete, not that the two sets of supporters have required much pepping up, given their teams are in a European final for the first time. The trophy is out and the players will follow soon.
This email from Peter Oh contains slightly less mascot-based doom-mongering and sums up most neutrals’ feelings about tonight’s game:
double quotation markIt’s refreshing to see a Madrid club other than Real and Atlético in a major final, and a London outfit other than the big fancy ones too numerous to mention.
“I note that Rayo Vallecano has a bolt of lightning on its club crest,” emails Justin Kavanagh, “while the Londoners have a bald eagle proudly flying over … the Crystal Palace. If you’re a Palace fan looking for omens, this is not good: Eagles’ nests can be destroyed by lightning, and, as we all know, the cause of the fire that destroyed the famous old glass palace located near Croydon was never confirmed. Careful now!”
It’s important to remember tonight’s winners will be granted an automatic spot in next season’s Europa League. Which is no small prize for the eighth-placed finishers in Spain (Rayo) and the team that finished 15th in the Premier League (Palace), neither of whom would be getting European football next season otherwise.
The two clubs have played just one appearance in the Europa League (or Uefa Cup, its predecessor) between them – when Rayo Vallecano qualified for the 2000-01 Uefa Cup courtesy of their fair play record.
Palace, of course, were kicked out of this season’s Europa League and demoted to the Conference League after a Uefa ruling on multi-club ownership. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Daniel Muñoz and Maxence Lacroix trot out to warm up before the Conference League final. Photograph: Boris Streubel/Uefa/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 14.43 EDT
Half an hour until kickoff. I would ask how the nerves are among you Crystal Palace supporters, but the messages below suggest to me the fingernails are already being bitten …
And just like that some Palace fans have found my inbox and given their pre-match thoughts …
Paul Pateman: “Riad hasn’t strung games together because he was injured just after he arrived in summer 2024, and then again on his return. Since he returned he has been excellent but outshone a bit by Canvot’s breakthrough. Since he got back to fitness he has been in the squad and provided great cover for the regular three of Richards, Lacroix and Canvot.”
Jonathan Rendall: “Nervously watching the Palace game from home. I’m feeling a tense 1-0 to the Eagles, which I’ll take!”
Anne Patterson: “Getting very excited in southern Patagonia. Got the mate going and have made biscuits. Hope that if Wharton scores he doesn’t do a double flip on that ankle. Pino to score the winner.”
It seems half of south London has descended on Leipzig tonight but any Palace fans not out in Germany (or even if you are and you can get internet/signal), send me your predictions for the game.
My personal prediction? A comfortable Eagles’ win: 2-0.
Crystal Palace fans head towards the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. Photograph: Maryam Majd/ReutersAnd once inside are enjoying themselves. Photograph: Annegret Hilse/ReutersShare
Updated at 14.45 EDT
For the Rayo Vallecano view please look no further than Sid Lowe’s piece on the third Madrid club, “the last team from another time, special for what they fight for and what they fight against”.
Here’s another corking quote from the same article. “We’re like kids gifted a toy: desperate to open it, to play, enjoy it.”
The big injury news for Palace is that Adam Wharton is fit enough to start, despite a scare in that final league game of the season against Arsenal, but Chris Richards – deemed ‘touch and go’ before the game – is only on the bench. If you search Adam Wharton’s name on your social media platform of choice, you’ll see his mum is in attendance in Leipzig and seemingly enjoying the experience.
The absence of Richards from the starting lineup means it’s a huge night for Chadi Riad in the back three. He’s yet to fully convince and string together a run of games for the Eagles. What better night to step up than tonight?
Crystal Palace fans soak in the atmosphere in Leipzig before kickoff. Photograph: Maryam Majd/ReutersShareTeam news
Crystal Palace: Henderson; Muñoz, Riad, Lacroix, Canvot, Mitchell; Wharton, Kamada; Pino, Sarr, Mateta.
Subs: Benítez, Matthews, Lerma, Johnson, Clyne, Hughes, Strand Larsen, Sosa, Richards, Guessand, Devenny, Cardines.
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla; Ratju, Lejeune, Ciss, Chavarría; López, Valentin, Palazón; Garcia, Alemao, De Frutos.
Subs: Cárdenas, Díaz, Trejo, Camello, Akhomach, Gumbau, Balliu, Espino, Molina, Mendy.
Updated at 13.53 EDT
Some news from police in Leipzig overnight: They say 60 Crystal Palace fans classed as “known troublemakers” were ordered to leave the city centre on Tuesday night after two arrests were made following clashes with Rayo Vallecano fans.
Saxon State Police revealed clashes between fans “suddenly broke out” with bottles, glasses and furniture thrown as well as “physical altercations”.
The fan fest in the market area of Leipzig is said to have stayed peaceful, with around 2,000 fans from each of the two clubs in that area of the city.
It’s already linked at the top of this page but allow me to nudge you in the direction of Richard Foster’s scene-setting final preview from a Palace perspective. Try saying that after you’ve had a few …
SharePreamble
This is it. The big one. For Crystal Palace, and for Oliver Glasner, in his final game in charge of the Eagles, all roads lead to Leipzig and the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. Can Glasner guide Palace to a first piece of European silverware in their history and finish with two trophies in his two full seasons in south London? It would be some way to bow out.
Spanish side Vallecano, who finished eighth in La Liga and overcame Gary O’Neil’s RC Strasbourg over two legs in the semi-finals, stand in their way. The team from the Madrid district of Puente de Vallecas are not flush with big fancy names, and Palace are most certainly favourites, but this is a European final. Palace will hope to join West Ham and Chelsea on the list of English winners of the Conference League since its inception in 2022, and Aston Villa as an English winner of a Uefa pot this season. Arsenal could even make it a clean sweep for Premier League clubs in Europe in 2026 …
Let’s get going with the buildup, including team news, before the 8pm BST (9pm local time) kickoff in Germany. Looking forward to it.