Crystal Palace faced Rayo Vallecano in the UEFA Conference League final in Leipzig on Wednesday night, with the match kicking off at 8pm BST as unrest in the city cast a shadow over the stadium.
Saxon State Police said 60 Crystal Palace fans classed as known troublemakers were ordered to leave the city centre on Tuesday night, and that two arrests followed clashes between supporters. Police reported bottles, glasses and furniture were thrown and that physical altercations took place, even as around 2,000 fans from each club gathered peacefully at the fan fest in Leipzig’s market area.
On the pitch Oliver Glasner named a Crystal Palace side that carried the weight of recent success. Adam Wharton was fit enough to start after a late-season scare against Arsenal, while Chris Richards was named only on the bench, meaning Chadi Riad slotted into the back three alongside Lacroix and Canvot. Palace’s starting XI read: Henderson; Muñoz, Riad, Lacroix, Canvot, Mitchell; Wharton, Kamada; Pino, Sarr, Mateta. Rayo Vallecano began with Batalla; Ratju, Lejeune, Ciss, Chavarría; López, Valentin, Palazón; Garcia, Alemao, De Frutos.
The numbers underline the scale and stakes. Palace have reached a third major final in 13 months under Glasner after winning the FA Cup last May and lifting the Community Shield on penalties against Liverpool in August. Glasner himself brings the memory of European success — he won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 — and those experiences are shaping how he prepares the team for Leipzig.
Glasner was unusually candid about learning from the past. “I said I would never do it again,” he told reporters, and added that “every experience you have in life can help you.” He described repeatedly looking back at Frankfurt — asking whether they trained at the stadium or at home, where they flew from and what they did on matchday — and warned that “not everything that worked at Frankfurt will work at Crystal Palace.” The manager has chosen not to train at the RB Arena before arrival, preferring the club’s own training ground for big European games, a decision rooted in those reflections.
That approach and the personnel choices carry friction. Chadi Riad’s start exposes a tension between necessity and caution: Paul Pateman noted Riad’s stop-start progress since arriving in summer 2024, with injury soon after his move and again on his return, and said that since getting back to fitness Riad has provided important cover for the regular trio of Richards, Lacroix and Canvot. Riad’s inclusion because Richards did not start will feel like vindication if Palace keep the backline solid, and a risk if the earlier fitness interruptions show through.
Off the pitch the narrative is also mixed. Saxon State Police described violent clashes and ordered 60 supporters out of the city centre, but they also reported that the fan fest itself remained largely peaceful, with thousands of fans from both clubs present. Social media reactions tracked the same split: one Palace supporter said he was nervously watching from home and predicted a narrow 1-0 for the Eagles, while another described watching from southern Patagonia, making mate and biscuits and hoping Wharton stayed on his ankle and Pino would score the winner.
The single question now sharpened by the night’s build-up is straightforward: will Glasner’s methods and his selection decisions — the training plan that departs from a stadium routine, the gamble of Riad over Richards, and the choice to trust Wharton after a late scare — win Crystal Palace a third trophy in 13 months or leave them exposed on the biggest night? The answer will arrive on the pitch, but both the tactical choices and the unrest in Leipzig have already left their mark on this final.
