Key events
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.
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.
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.
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.
KICK 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.
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:
It’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.
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.
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?
Team 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.
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 …
Preamble
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.
