Maxence Lacroix said Crystal Palace will give everything for Oliver Glasner when they face Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final, with the defender urging his team to stay locked in on the smallest details in a match he expects to be decided by fine margins. Palace head into the showdown against the Spanish minnows with a chance to keep their European journey going for a second season if they can finish the job.
“We’ve got to focus on details because it’s going to be a big game,” Lacroix said. “It’s just one game, so we have to be ready, we have to be focused.” He added that Palace have their chance against “a really good team” but must be professional, and said the squad know they have to be sharp for “every single detail, every single minute” if they want to win the trophy.
Lacroix has been Palace’s most involved outfield player in this competition, and his words carried the sense of a squad that has grown with every round. Dean Henderson had already spoken about the group wanting to “finish the movie with victory,” and Lacroix’s message matched that mood: the players are not treating this as a reward for getting this far, but as the final step they still have to take.
There is reason for that confidence. Glasner has already taken Palace to heights their fans could only have dreamed of, with last season’s Wembley win still described as the club’s greatest ever moment. If they beat Rayo Vallecano, they would add another landmark and earn the right to keep following the team around Europe next season, a prospect that would have seemed far away before this run began.
The thread running through Palace’s campaign is clear enough. Glasner, who has won the Europa League before, has given the squad both the structure and the mentality to believe they belong on this stage, and Lacroix said the manager brought that desire to fight from the moment he arrived at the training ground. “He gave us everything that we need to win,” Lacroix said. “He knows that this is really important because the high level of football is about details.”
That is what makes the final more than a one-off for Palace. They are up against two teams that have punched above their weight to reach this point, and the gap between success and regret may come down to discipline, concentration and the ability to stay professional when the pressure spikes. Palace have already shown they can rise to a big occasion. The next test is whether they can do it again, and whether Glasner’s side can finish the story they have spent the season writing.
