Crystal Palace lose to Cypriot underdogs; but the ‘learning experience’ could win them the Conference League

October 24, 2025
4:57 am

Crystal Palace losing at home to AEK Larnaca might be the wake-up call needed to win the Europa Conference League.

You have to break some eggs to make an omelette, innit?

Crystal Palace 0-1 AEK Larnaca: Key statistics 👇

Palace missed two big chances and had 1.66 expected goals to Larnaca’s 0.17
Cypriot side were 16/1 outsiders to win at Selhurst Park
Jaydee Canvot’s misplaced pass gifted the visitors a goal
Palace had 15 shots, but only forced one save from goalkeeper Zlatan Alomerovic

The AEK Larnaca coaching staff running onto the pitch at full-time to celebrate a historic win in Europe epitomised how much victory meant to them, and how big of a scalp Thursday’s result is.

Larnaca are currently fifth in the Cypriot top flight but joint-top in the Conference League standings with Italian giants Fiorentina after beating Crystal Palace and astonishingly, AZ Alkmaar 4-0 on matchday one.

Despite their positive start, we’re not backing them as contenders for the trophy, yet we almost feel more confident about Palace’s chances after being humbled.

Are Palace better placed to win the Conference League after losing to Larnaca?

In short: yes, we honestly believe so.

We wouldn’t expect the Eagles to coast through the league phase, results and mentality-wise, but realising early doors that finishing in the top eight is far from a given could temper expectations and slightly alter the approach to these matches.

Most people fancied Palace to show up and win comfortably and that didn’t happen. Given their first-half domination, it probably should’ve happened. But it never did.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and Palace will bounce back from this when they host Alkmaar on matchday three.

Oliver Glasner the perfect man for European success

Winning the Europa Conference League would be a magnificent achievement for a club that won its first-ever major trophy last season.

Thankfully for the Londoners, they have a Europa League-winning head coach in Oliver Glasner, who guided Eintracht Frankfurt to that trophy in 2022.

At around 3/1, Palace are the favourites to win this season’s Conference League, and Glasner’s ability as a coach and European pedigree is why.

In truth, every Premier League team to qualify for Europe’s third-tier competition should be the favourites given their financial might in comparison to the vast majority of their competitors.

There are three games between now and that Alkmaar clash, with trips to Arsenal and Liverpool (in the Carabao Cup) coming before a home match against Brentford. Tricky.

Crystal Palace fans unveil a tifo showcasing the journey to Leipzig, where the Conference League final is being held 👏 pic.twitter.com/Y4tkTvHr7t
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 23, 2025

Marc Guehi appreciates ‘learning’ experience in Europe

Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi even knows he and his teammates will learn from Thursday’s home loss.

“They scored we didn’t, it’s that simple, that’s it. Every team comes with a different type of game plan. Today it was a team that sat back. They did well, they frustrated us. Even though they did that we still could have scored. It’s an opportunity for us to learn and move on.
“I can’t really blame him [Canvot]. I thought he played well today, I thought he did well. That is not down to him, it is every single one of us. We will all take that burden and move on.
“We always believe right to the end and we have proved it in different games, just today it wasn’t. This is all good. You get to learn. It is a new experience for the club and hopefully we have more that we can grow from in these competitions.
“When it’s 0-0 and you feel you should be winning it is understandable to feel frustration, not only fans, us on the pitch. Everyone had the same feeling. It is good opportunity to learn and understand that these European games are tough no matter who you play against.”

And head coach Glasner pretty much echoed what Guehi said.

“That is European football. You have to learn from it. Small mistakes get punished and on the other side we had enough chances to win the game. It is not just the story of today but many games. The effort was here, we were creating situations against a deep block. We had four or five big opportunities to score and we didn’t and we make one mistake and you can lose a game like this.
“It is part of the game. Nobody is blaming [Jaydee Canvot] him, it just happens. The finish was excellent. If you don’t score you can’t win. We lost a point today. It is disappointing, it is frustrating and it hurts but on the other side we keep going. We have enough games.
“We had enough clear chances and then you lose sometimes. We have to learn from it.”