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Crystal Palace v Rayo Vallecano: Conference League final – live | Conference League
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The pre-match ceremony/music/dancing is almost complete, not that the two sets of supporters have required much pepping up, given their teams are in a European final for the first time. The trophy is out and the players will follow soon.
This email from Peter Oh contains slightly less mascot-based doom-mongering and sums up most neutrals’ feelings about tonight’s game:
It’s refreshing to see a Madrid club other than Real and Atlético in a major final, and a London outfit other than the big fancy ones too numerous to mention.
“I note that Rayo Vallecano has a bolt of lightning on its club crest,” emails Justin Kavanagh, “while the Londoners have a bald eagle proudly flying over … the Crystal Palace. If you’re a Palace fan looking for omens, this is not good: Eagles’ nests can be destroyed by lightning, and, as we all know, the cause of the fire that destroyed the famous old glass palace located near Croydon was never confirmed. Careful now!”
It’s important to remember tonight’s winners will be granted an automatic spot in next season’s Europa League. Which is no small prize for the eighth-placed finishers in Spain (Rayo) and the team that finished 15th in the Premier League (Palace), neither of whom would be getting European football next season otherwise.
The two clubs have played just one appearance in the Europa League (or Uefa Cup, its predecessor) between them – when Rayo Vallecano qualified for the 2000-01 Uefa Cup courtesy of their fair play record.
Palace, of course, were kicked out of this season’s Europa League and demoted to the Conference League after a Uefa ruling on multi-club ownership. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Half an hour until kickoff. I would ask how the nerves are among you Crystal Palace supporters, but the messages below suggest to me the fingernails are already being bitten …
And just like that some Palace fans have found my inbox and given their pre-match thoughts …
Paul Pateman: “Riad hasn’t strung games together because he was injured just after he arrived in summer 2024, and then again on his return. Since he returned he has been excellent but outshone a bit by Canvot’s breakthrough. Since he got back to fitness he has been in the squad and provided great cover for the regular three of Richards, Lacroix and Canvot.”
Jonathan Rendall: “Nervously watching the Palace game from home. I’m feeling a tense 1-0 to the Eagles, which I’ll take!”
Anne Patterson: “Getting very excited in southern Patagonia. Got the mate going and have made biscuits. Hope that if Wharton scores he doesn’t do a double flip on that ankle. Pino to score the winner.”
It seems half of south London has descended on Leipzig tonight but any Palace fans not out in Germany (or even if you are and you can get internet/signal), send me your predictions for the game.
My personal prediction? A comfortable Eagles’ win: 2-0.
For the Rayo Vallecano view please look no further than Sid Lowe’s piece on the third Madrid club, “the last team from another time, special for what they fight for and what they fight against”.
Here’s another corking quote from the same article. “We’re like kids gifted a toy: desperate to open it, to play, enjoy it.”
The big injury news for Palace is that Adam Wharton is fit enough to start, despite a scare in that final league game of the season against Arsenal, but Chris Richards – deemed ‘touch and go’ before the game – is only on the bench. If you search Adam Wharton’s name on your social media platform of choice, you’ll see his mum is in attendance in Leipzig and seemingly enjoying the experience.
The absence of Richards from the starting lineup means it’s a huge night for Chadi Riad in the back three. He’s yet to fully convince and string together a run of games for the Eagles. What better night to step up than tonight?
Team news
Crystal Palace: Henderson; Muñoz, Riad, Lacroix, Canvot, Mitchell; Wharton, Kamada; Pino, Sarr, Mateta.
Subs: Benítez, Matthews, Lerma, Johnson, Clyne, Hughes, Strand Larsen, Sosa, Richards, Guessand, Devenny, Cardines.
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla; Ratju, Lejeune, Ciss, Chavarría; López, Valentin, Palazón; Garcia, Alemao, De Frutos.
Subs: Cárdenas, Díaz, Trejo, Camello, Akhomach, Gumbau, Balliu, Espino, Molina, Mendy.
Some news from police in Leipzig overnight: They say 60 Crystal Palace fans classed as “known troublemakers” were ordered to leave the city centre on Tuesday night after two arrests were made following clashes with Rayo Vallecano fans.
Saxon State Police revealed clashes between fans “suddenly broke out” with bottles, glasses and furniture thrown as well as “physical altercations”.
The fan fest in the market area of Leipzig is said to have stayed peaceful, with around 2,000 fans from each of the two clubs in that area of the city.
It’s already linked at the top of this page but allow me to nudge you in the direction of Richard Foster’s scene-setting final preview from a Palace perspective. Try saying that after you’ve had a few …
Preamble
This is it. The big one. For Crystal Palace, and for Oliver Glasner, in his final game in charge of the Eagles, all roads lead to Leipzig and the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. Can Glasner guide Palace to a first piece of European silverware in their history and finish with two trophies in his two full seasons in south London? It would be some way to bow out.
Spanish side Vallecano, who finished eighth in La Liga and overcame Gary O’Neil’s RC Strasbourg over two legs in the semi-finals, stand in their way. The team from the Madrid district of Puente de Vallecas are not flush with big fancy names, and Palace are most certainly favourites, but this is a European final. Palace will hope to join West Ham and Chelsea on the list of English winners of the Conference League since its inception in 2022, and Aston Villa as an English winner of a Uefa pot this season. Arsenal could even make it a clean sweep for Premier League clubs in Europe in 2026 …
Let’s get going with the buildup, including team news, before the 8pm BST (9pm local time) kickoff in Germany. Looking forward to it.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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