Conference League: Crystal Palace-Rayo Vallecano final

In Leipzig, on May 27th, Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano will face each other. Shakhtar Donetsk and Strasbourg eliminated in the semi-finals. The Conference semi-finals issued these verdicts, which were also those of the first leg. Palace won 2-1 over the Ukrainians from Donetsk after the 3-1 in the first leg and Rayo gave an encore over O’Neil’s team, 1-0 in the first leg in Spain and 1-0 in the second leg in France (with a penalty missed by the hosts in full injury time).

crystal palace-shakhtar 2-1

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(ga) Around here they’ve been waiting their whole lives for an evening like this. Indeed, perhaps more than one life. Crystal Palace beat Shakhtar 2-1 in the semi-final second leg and goes to the final stage of the Conference League. In 121 years of history not only had there never been a European final, but not even a qualification: the highest moment, perhaps, dates back to 1962 when Alfredo Di Stefano’s Real Madrid arrived to take the first spotlight at Selhurst Park. A friendly match, however luxurious, but still a friendly match. 64 years later Crystal Palace achieved a historic final, giving their extraordinary audience an unforgettable evening and one of the most iconic moments in the club’s history (along with the FA Cup won last year). In what has been defined by BBC journalist Ian Dennis as the “best atmosphere in the entire Premier League”, the atmosphere is incandescent, the decibels deafening. Perhaps too much, so much so that the first dangers all come from Dean Henderson. Then Palace reacts and in the 25th minute Selhurst Park explodes for the first time: Richards’ throw, Mateta’s push for Yeremi Pino who beats Riznyk. Fleeting joy though: var check, offside and goal disallowed. It matters little, because a quarter of an hour passes and Glasner’s men take a strong lead. A very inspired (and much loved) Adam Wharton shoots from the edge but Riznyk is good at blocking, Muñoz collects and immediately looks for teammates in the area but finds Pedro Henrique who surprises his goalkeeper to bring Palace 1-0. Shakhtar rallied and equalized ten minutes later, with a delightful first touch from outside the area by Eguinaldo. In the second half the attitude does not change. Fierce restart, Mitchell crosses low and tight and Ismaila Sarr makes it 2-1 in the 52nd minute, sending the Holmesdale Road Stand into a frenzy. Translated: Crystal Palace in the Conference final and a flood of joy in south London.

Strasbourg-Rayo 0-1

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(ag) It won’t be Real or Atletico. From Madrid, the European finalist for this year is Rayo Vallecano. A historic first for the neighborhood club of the Spanish capital which won its place in Leipzig by making the most of its experience and also its quality, tactics and technique, against a Strasbourg team that had finished the qualifying phase in first place, but ran out of the drive of its youth in the most important moment of the season. Thus, as in the first leg, it was the Brazilian Alemao who made the difference, giving Rayo the title of the eleventh different Spanish club in a European final. And against Crystal Palace. Roles Strasbourg dreamed of becoming the eighth French finalist, and the whole province had mobilised, with the 880 municipalities displaying slogans in favor of O’Neil’s gang. And even the ultras had paused the protest against the BlueCo ownership, to contest the role of Chelsea branch attributed to their club. The presence in the stands of Nasser Al Khelaifi, president of PSG, Champions League finalist for the second consecutive year, was of no use. And the fireworks set off at night in front of the Spaniards’ hotel to prevent them from sleeping were of no use. In reality it was Strasbourg that seemed to be asleep. Especially throughout the first half, when one could have expected a reaction of pride after losing without ever having a shot at goal. However, the home team struggled to reach the shot. Also for O’Neil’s tactical move to insert right-back Ouattara in the midfield, in a 4-2-3-1 where Barco returned in midfield and Doué in defence. Ouattara was left out of the game, however confused with the passes being too long, making Rayo’s job easier in his usual 4-3-3. All thanks also to the lack of pressing and the many errors by the hosts, even for the simplest passes. Goal It is no coincidence that Perez’s team managed to involve goalkeeper Penders several times, inspired by an always poisonous Palazon between the lines, sowing panic in the home rearguard. The advantage was therefore inevitable, with the sixth shot on goal, on the development of a corner from the left, for a cross by Espino from the right which found Lejeune first, and on Penders’ rebound, the winning touch from Alemao (42′), already scorer of the winning goal in the first leg. It was then anomalous that Strasbourg’s first shot on goal came only with full-back Doué, caught deep, but neutralized by the attentive Batalla (43′). The start of the second half by the French was slightly better, but not enough to put Rayo in difficulty who managed the advantage with serenity, without even having to force coverage, and came close to doubling the lead: with Palazon (6′), a couple of times with De Frutos (7′, 13′) and with Camello (24′). In injury time, Batalla took center stage by saving Enciso’s honor-saving penalty (49′), which would not have changed Rayo’s fate, deservedly reaching the final on 27 May.