Crystal Palace are European champions for the first time after Jean-Philippe Mateta’s second-half goal settled a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in the Uefa Conference League final in Leipzig, Germany.
The victory sends Palace into the Europa League next season and gives Oliver Glasner’s side a place in the record books as only the third English team to win the competition in five years. For supporters who have waited decades for a night like this, chairman Steve Parish put it plainly when he called the club’s European success “all of our dreams come true”.
The final also closed the book on Glasner’s spell in charge, with the Austrian set to leave Crystal Palace this summer after his last match at the club ended with a trophy. That makes the result feel bigger than a single night in Leipzig. It is now a turning point for the club, one that changes where Palace start next season and how their European run will be remembered.
Adam Wharton sat at the centre of another conversation running through the night. The midfielder delivered a man-of-the-match display in the final, yet Thomas Tuchel left him out of England’s World Cup squad when he picked Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Kobbie Mainoo, Jordan Henderson, Eberechi Eze, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers as his midfield options. Before the match, Glenn Hoddle said he was “a little bit surprised” by the omission and praised Wharton’s passing range, saying he could hit “killer balls” from deep. After the final, Hoddle’s view only sharpened: “This is the quality that we have got,” he said. “I would've had him in the squad. He is a wonderful footballer.”
Crystal Palace leave Leipzig with the trophy, a Europa League place and a manager on his way out, while one of their brightest players has given England another reason to revisit a decision that already looks harder to explain.
