Crystal Palace celebrate 'pure delight' of Conference League success

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mateta-jean-philippe/nsFUj6GN/"]Jean-Philippe Mateta[/a]'s second-half goal took [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/crystal-palace/AovF1Mia/"]Palace[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/crystal-palace-AovF1Mia/rayo-vallecano-8bcjFy6O/?mid=Q17aZoV7"]to a 1-0 win[/a] over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rayo-vallecano/8bcjFy6O/"]Rayo Vallecano[/a] and a maiden European triumph.[/p][p]Palace's FA Cup win last season qualified them for this season's Europa League, but UEFA revoked their place in the second-tier competition due to multi-club ownership rules.[/p][p]"[b]I said to the players, get now what you deserve after winning the FA Cup - the Europa League,[/b]" Glasner told reporters after the match.[/p][p]"[b]Now, it's a one-year delay, the club, the fans, the players get what they deserve.[/b][/p][p]"[b]Sometimes you have to take a detour, and now we're there.[/b]"[/p][p]In January, Glasner announced he would leave the club in the summer. Palace had never won a trophy when he arrived, but he leaves having lifted the FA Cup, Community Shield and now a first European trophy.[/p][p]"[b]We hear a lot when the fans say thank you to us for giving them the best day of their life and all these emotions. And I said thank you to the players, because it's the same for me[/b]," Glasner said.[/p][p]"[b]Because they gave me great, incredible days in my life and that's what I really appreciate.[/b]"[/p][p]Glasner said his time at Palace was "[b]a good chapter to read in the Crystal Palace book, but other chapters will follow.[/b]"[/p][p]Defender Tyrick Mitchell said winning the Conference League felt like "pure delight" after a decade at the London club.[/p][p]"[b]It's amazing, it's the same feeling that we had when we won the FA Cup[/b]," [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mitchell-tyrick/tbyIjQ0h/"]Mitchell[/a] told TNT Sports.[/p][p]"[b]It's just pure delight, pure emotions and we're just happy that we were able to get over the line[/b]."[/p][p]The victory ended coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/glasner-oliver/CznGurCt/"]Oliver Glasner[/a]'s incredible stint in charge of the club.[/p][p]The Austrian was coaching his last game after announcing in January he would leave in the summer.[/p][embed guid="608b7b79-2ff3-4ea4-add3-883062256f9d" url="https://x.com/Conf_League/status/2059740735402815749?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Palace had never won a major trophy before Glasner's arrival in 2024 but have now added the Conference League crown to last year's FA Cup and the season-opening Community Shield.[/p][p]Mitchell missed a golden opportunity to put Palace ahead just before half-time but played a massive role in Palace fronting up over the season to the physical demands of playing in Europe.[/p][p]"[b]It definitely is (the hardest season we've played). We play 60 games a season,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"[b]So many of our bodies are not used to it. We had times when we weren't winning. We lost a couple games in this competition[/b]."[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wharton-adam/v5IYUpDm/"]Adam Wharton[/a], whose shot rebounded into the path of Mateta for Palace's goal, struggled to sum up what the win meant for the team and their supporters.[/p][p]"[b]You can't put the feeling into words. It's incredible, south London, the fans. It's unbelievable,[/b]" Wharton told TNT Sports.[/p][p]"[b]The start of the game was a bit cagey, as it's bound to be in a final, but we grew into it, found where the spaces were.[/b]"[/p][p]Wharton missed last season's FA Cup final festivities but said he had "[b]two celebrations to catch up on.[/b]"[/p]