Crystal Palace face Shakhtar Donetsk
Oliver Glasner not discussing winning Conference League
Fully focused on semi-final clash
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has made clear that he and his team aren’t discussing winning the UEFA Conference League. All focus is on the task at hand: prevailing over Shakhtar Donetsk in the semi-finals.
Every Eagles fan is dreaming of seeing Glasner’s men make it to the final but to get there they must first tackle a tough Ukrainian outfit. Shakhtar sit top of the Ukrainian Premier League and finished above the South Londoners in the Conference League’s league table.
Glasner is leaving Palace when his contract expires in June, but before that, he can deliver the club its first-ever European trophy. He’s not thinking about lifting the trophy at the moment, though, as he acknowledges the teams left in the competition.
Glasner: ‘Focus on what we have to do’
Palace face Shakhtar in the first leg of their semi-final tomorrow night at Henryk-Reyman-Stadium in Krakow, Poland. A win would see them take a huge step towards the final in Leipzig.
Glasner was asked whether he thinks his side can go all the way and lift the trophy (via club media):
“Always when you enter a competition it makes sense to try to win it, but I don’t like to talk about it in September! The closer you come, the more you want it. When you play a semi-final, it makes sense: I want to play the final because nobody will say it’s fine playing a semi-final and losing. That’s why we are here.”
Glasner pointed out the teams left in the competition including Shakhtar, Strasbourg and Rayo Vallecano:
“This is the goal. If we can achieve it, I don’t know, because all the teams in the competition right now deserve to be there and always won, but then let’s see. What we really try to avoid is talking about winning something. We try to focus on what we have to do on the pitch to get the best possible result.”
He added:
“At the end, you always get what you deserve. We have huge desire, we have the confidence and the belief that we can win against Shakhtar, but we always have huge respect for the way they play.“
Palace head into tomorrow’s game following a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, but there were positives to take from the game. If Glasner’s attackers were more clinical, they may well have left Anfield with at least a point.
Glasner on Shakhtar and Liverpool ‘Similarities’
Palace lost to Arne Slot’s Reds despite having more attempts on goal and putting in a good performance. Glasner’s troops faced a team with a front three of Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo.
Glasner highlighted similarities between Shakhtar and Liverpool:
“The style is a little bit similar, Liverpool playing with wingers like Salah and Gakpo, whereas Shakhtar play similarly in a 4-3-3 structure. This performance at Liverpool gives us a lot of confidence and tomorrow is a big game for all of us and for Crystal Palace.”
Palace’s defeat at Anfield was just their second in nine games across competitions. The other loss came away to Fiorentina in the quarter-finals but an emphatic 3-0 win at home saw them progress 4-2 on aggregate.
The tie against Shakhtar will see the South Londoners play away in the second leg. That’s a massive advantage given how special an atmosphere the fans can create on European nights at Selhurst Park.