Crystal Palace book first European final after seeing off Shakhtar Donetsk

LONDON, England (AFP) — Crystal Palace are heading to the first European final in the club’s history after finishing the job against Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday, wrapping up a 5-2 aggregate success and keeping alive Oliver Glasner’s storybook farewell.

The Premier League side won 2-1 at Selhurst Park in the second leg of the UEFA Conference League semi-final, with the opener coming via an own goal by Pedro Henrique before Ismaila Sarr struck to put the tie firmly beyond reach for the displaced Ukrainian outfit.

Palace will meet Rayo Vallecano in the final in Leipzig later this month after the Spanish team came through their semi-final by defeating Strasbourg 2-0 on aggregate.

“We always talked before, this is why when we were little boys we always wanted to become professional football players, and told the players this is the reward we get, and this is the reward you can’t buy,” Glasner told TNT Sports.

“I said this after the FA Cup final [in 2025]. Now we’re playing the next final together, so it’s amazing what this group of players are doing for Crystal Palace.”

Needing a response after losing 3-1 in the first leg, Shakhtar began with intent in south London, but Palace tightened their grip in the 25th minute following a fast, direct move.

Goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk pushed away Adam Wharton’s powerful long-range effort, yet Daniel Munoz reacted quickly and his tight-angle follow-up glanced off Henrique before looping past Riznyk.

Shakhtar pulled one back in the 34th minute when Eguinaldo finished coolly into the top corner to give the visitors a lift.

Palace continued to look dangerous before half-time, with Jean-Philippe Mateta hitting the post from an ambitious scissor-kick attempt just before the break.

Any remaining suspense drained away early in the second half as Sarr converted Tyrick Mitchell’s cross from close range, his ninth goal of the tournament this season.

From there, Palace managed the match without major alarm and embraced the celebrations when the whistle went.

The Leipzig final on May 27 will also be Glasner’s last game in charge of Palace, after he said earlier this season he will depart when his contract ends next month.

The 51-year-old Austrian took over early in 2024 and has presided over a standout stretch for the club, including last season’s FA Cup triumph, a 1-0 win over Manchester City that delivered Palace’s first major trophy.

They followed that by beating Liverpool on penalties in the Community Shield at the start of this season.

Palace’s route into Europe’s third-tier competition came after they were removed from the Europa League before the campaign began, with UEFA saying the club breached multi-club ownership rules.

If Palace lift the Conference League, it would secure a spot in next season’s Europa League.

Glasner, who previously won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, said a continental final with Palace was beyond anything he had pictured.

“For me personally, it’s massive because everybody who knows me, especially when I announced to leave, it was for me, more of a duty to work even harder, if this is possible, to deliver as a manager, to support the players, to support the group, and to make our fans proud.

“If you wish something, you always want your last game not to play for nothing. So you want to play for silverware, and now we can play for European silverware, and what I can promise, we will give everything we have to bring it here back to Selhurst,” he said.