What a time it is to be a Crystal Palace supporter. Twelve months ago, the south London club was still waiting to win their first major trophy and even the most optimistic fan could never have imagined that they would be contesting the semi-final of a European competition.
Despite a few anxious moments when a motivated Fiorentina team cut the deficit from last week’s 3-0 defeat in the first leg at Selhurst Park to just two goals with half an hour still to play, Oliver Glasner’s side showed their growing maturity at this level to progress to a last four showdown with Shakhtar Donetsk. While Palace made things far more uncomfortable for themselves after Ismaïla Sarr’s early header, even the loss of Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix to injuries before half-time could not knock them off their stride against opponents who have twice been beaten finalists in this competition and gave it their best shot.
After leading them to the FA Cup and Community Shield, Glasner now has the opportunity to sign off at Palace with another trophy after the acrimonious fallout from the Austrian’s announcement he would be leaving in January.
“I think 90% of our players have never played European football before and every single game, every single experience, helps us to grow individually and as a team,” he said before revealing that the Palace squad had been granted a night out in Florence to celebrate their success.
