Crystal Palace have enjoyed a good run under Oliver Glasner, who arrived at Selhurst Park in February 2024.
Last season, the Eagles defeated Manchester City in the final to win the FA Cup. It was Crystal Palace’s first major success in the club’s history. Back in August, the London club beat Liverpool to win the Community Shield.
The FA Cup success meant Crystal Palace qualified for Europe. They face RC Strasbourg in the UEFA Conference League group stage later today.
Ahead of this clash, L’Equipe have published an interview with Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix. The Frenchman graduated from FC Sochaux-Montbéliard’s youth system and was with the first team for two years before joining VfL Wolfsburg in 2020.
The 25-year-old says several former Sochaux-Montbéliard teammates have requested tickets for today’s European clash.
He then talks about Crystal Palace’s FA Cup win. The Eagles had made it to the final after overcoming Fulham and Aston Villa in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
The centre-back told a story about an interesting interaction with an elderly Crystal Palace fan, something which provided extra motivation.
“Even today, the fans thank us for that title…” he said.
“You know, just after the semi-final victory against Villa, a rather elderly supporter, he must have been 80, stopped me in the street and grabbed my arm. He said, ‘Before I go, I’d like to see Palace win a trophy’.”
“He’d often been disappointed, as the club had already lost twice in the FA Cup final [in 1990 and 2016]. I told him, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll do it’.”
“But you could tell he was terrified of experiencing another disappointment. That’s when you realise that Palace is their whole life… I thought of him again when we beat City.”
