The French team striker scored the only goal in a very close final, Wednesday evening against Rayo Vallecano, and offered its third trophy in less than a year to the London club, which at the same time qualified for the Europa League.
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/2026/05/27/6a17580b230e1989416074.jpg "Conference League: French international Jean-Philippe Mateta offers his first European trophy to Crystal Palace against Rayo Vallecano")
The English are definitely taking control of the European cups. After Aston Villa’s coronation in the Europa League, while perhaps awaiting that of Arsenal in the Champions League, Crystal Palace dominated Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final (1-0), Wednesday May 27 at the Zentralstadion in Leipzig (Germany). Crystal Palace succeeds another English club, Chelsea, who had already beaten a Spanish club last year, Real Betis.
Long harmless in a closed encounter, with no shots on target in the first period, the London club relied on its French goleador, Jean-Philippe Mateta. The Blues striker, selected for the World Cup, opened the scoring on the surface, opportunistically taking over a shot from Adam Wharton that was repelled by the Rayo goalkeeper at the start of the second period (51st).
Close to making the break twice in the five minutes that followed, first on a free kick from Daichi Kamada which hit the two Spanish posts, then on a one-on-one missed by Jean-Philippe Mateta, the English were content to hold the score without much difficulty until the final whistle. Winner of the FA Cup and the Community Shield last year while its record was empty of major laurels until then, Crystal Palace continues its crazy series of trophies. Before another, next year, in the Europa League?
