Oliver Glasner watched on as his Crystal Palace side were in action on Thursday night against Fiorentina in the Conference League.
The South London side with a late goal that made it 3-0, putting them in a very strong position to get to the semi-finals.
Less than 12 months ago, Oliver Glasner delivered the club’s first ever trophy, winning the FA Cup.
That allowed Crystal Palace the chance to play in one of the major European competitions for the very first time in their history.
Oliver Glasner declaring after Thursday night’s quarter-final first leg victory: “Always, playing in European competitions is always something special, especially when you have it the first time in your club’s history, and today I could feel that there was something special. It was a special atmosphere and a special performance. I hope we will have still many of these nights, not just in Europe. In three days, we play Newcastle here and I think it will be the same. Hopefully it’s the same atmosphere.”
It will be interesting to see what kind of team Oliver Glasner puts out against Newcastle United, that kick-off at 2pm on Sunday coming only 64 hours after this win in Europe had the final whistle blown.
Taking no chances, the Crystal Palace boss kept all of his key players on the pitch, Guessand was replaced on 65 minutes and then Mateta with only seven minutes remaining, then a couple of changes in the dying seconds.
Despite the three goal lead, clearly Oliver Glasner not taking any chances. Fiorentina may be sixth bottom in Serie A at the moment but they finished sixth top last season to qualify for Europe.
Oliver Glasner: “I’m always enjoying and appreciating my job and being part of such great football games and such great atmospheres. Because, to be honest, that’s one of the reasons why I’m a Manager. Again, I hope that we can have more nights and evenings and games like this. But it was just the first step. It’s not done. It’s half-time. We had a good game. We have the lead, but we still have a game to play in Florence, and I expect them to play like they started the second-half, more aggressive and trying to get the turnaround.”
It has been an ‘interesting’ time for Oliver Glasner, delivering glory beyond the club’s dreams but then when undermined by the Crystal Palace owners in the transfer market, the manager very vocal on how he has been let down and ending up in internal civil war with both fans and owners, with it looking like he was going to leave at one point in mid-season.
Glasner will definitely leave in the summer but is clearly desperate to prioritise glory in Europe before he goes.
Crystal Palace are strong favourites to win the Conference League and with games coming thick and fast at these final stages of European competitions, having so many Premier League matches to play in the same period of time means that surely something has to give.
If Oliver Glasner can deliver the club’s second major trophy in 12 months, after they had never won a single one in their entire history, he will walk away feeling totally vindicated in how he has managed things, despite the vitriol from both fans and the club’s owners.
The Palace manager lost Eddie Nketiah with a hamstring injury this week and for sure, Oliver Glasner will be taking absolutely no chances with any of his star players when it comes to naming his team on Sunday against Newcastle United.