Oliver Glasner says watching Palace in Europa League would be best leaving gift

By Rachel Steinberg, Press Association, Leipzig

Departing Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has told his Conference League finalists that the best leaving gift they could give him would be the opportunity to watch them in the Europa League next season.

The Eagles are 90 minutes away from turning Glasner’s dream into a reality, with just Rayo Vallecano standing in the way of more silverware under the Austrian, who will mark the end of his transformative Crystal Palace tenure when the final whistle blows at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.

Palace chairman Steve Parish has credited Glasner with taking his club to an unprecedented level, and, on Tuesday evening in Saxony, Glasner once again challenged the south Londoners not to place any limits on their ambitions.

The Palace are in Leipzig 🫡 pic.twitter.com/bo16baXr9k

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 26, 2026

He said: “Yesterday they had a nice farewell for me, and then I said a few words. I said that 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.

“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.

“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, and that’s why I hope that we win tomorrow, that these players can play Europa League football next season.”