Oliver Glasner said Crystal Palace know they can write another chapter in the club’s history when they face Shakhtar Donetsk in the decisive second leg of their UEFA Conference League semi-final at Selhurst Park.
Palace take a 3-1 first-leg lead into the match and are 90 minutes from reaching a European final for the first time. Glasner said the team could be on the brink of playing for a third trophy in the last year, a run that would have sounded far-fetched two years ago when he said the club were still building toward this level.
The manager said tomorrow will be the 55th game of the campaign and described the atmosphere at the training ground as one his players are enjoying. He said the squad’s work over the last two years has been incredible, pointing to the FA Cup and then the Community Shield as proof of how far they have come. For Palace, the second leg is not only about protecting an advantage. It is about turning a season of progress into something that changes the club’s place in its own history.
Glasner did not hide the scale of the moment. He said he would be in the wrong job if he were not excited for such a big game, adding that losing that excitement would be a clear sign to retire. He said everyone around the team is feeling it, and he is enjoying the pressure that comes with it.
The tension is in the gap between where Palace were and where they now are. Glasner said the club had previously been far from this level, but now they are close to reality, with the prospect of a first European final and, if they finish the job, a place in club history that cannot be taken away. He said he knows they can write history again, and three more weeks together could decide just how far this team goes.