History beckons in Leipzig as Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano go head-to-head in 2026 Conference League Final.
For both clubs, this marks their first ever appearance in a major European final, providing a golden opportunity to lift their first international trophy and secure a coveted ticket to next season’s Europa League.
While the Eagles’ Premier League form dropped at the end of the season to 15th place, Oliver Glasner’s men have saved their best performances for the continent.
Having already led Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League glory in 2022, the departing Austrian manager will be desperate to sign off his memorable tenure at Palace with another piece of European silverware to add to last year’s historic FA Cup and Community Shield victories.
Standing in their way is the highly motivated Rayo Vallecano team led by Iñigo Pérez. Much like a palace, Red margin They relied on an extremely passionate fan base and an intense and combative playing identity to punch above their weight on the European stage.
Before this season, Rayo’s best performance in Europe was reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2001.
Here’s how to arrange the sides:
Crystal Palace team news
Jean-Philippe Mateta gets the nod to start in attack while Chris Richards is absent from defence. The US international only sits on the bench.
Adam Wharton, who has been a doubt, is fit enough to start.
Palace XI: Henderson, Riyad, Lacroix, Canfoot, Munoz, Wharton, Camada, Mitchell, Sarr, Pinault, Mateta.
Rayo Vallecano team news
Ray XI: Battle; Rayo, Lejeune, Pathé ces, Chavarria; Valentin, Unay Lopez; Alvaro Garcia, Essie Palazón, De Frutos; German.
Where to watch the Palace vs. Rayo match: TV channel, live stream online
The match starts on Wednesday at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). Live TV coverage is available in the UK on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate.
Streaming is on the HBO Max app. TNT Sports costs £30.99 per month and is available on a wide range of devices including smart TVs and games consoles.
Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano match statistics
- This is Palace’s second season in European competition and their first since participating in the Intertoto Cup in 1998, where they lost 2-0 at home and away to Samsunspor in the third round.
- Palace are the third English club – all from London – to reach the Conference League final, after West Ham (2022/23) and Chelsea (2024/25), both of whom went on to lift the trophy.
- The team aims to become the 12th different English club to win a major European men’s club competition after Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Ipswich, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and West Ham.
- The Eagles have lost just three of their 16 conference games this season (W9 D4).
- With 25 goals, Palace are the top scorers in the Conference League this season (from the league stage to the final) and are three goals ahead of their closest rivals Rayo Vallecano (22).
- Ismaila Sarr has scored in Palace’s last five games in the Conference League (six goals in total) and is the competition’s top scorer this season with nine goals.
- Jeremi Beno was the youngest Spanish player to start a major European final, at 18 years and 218 days, when he won the 2020/21 Europa League with Villarreal.
- Daichi Kamada scored a penalty shootout goal as Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers in the 2021/22 Europa League final.
- Rayo Vallecano have lost only 4 of their last 20 European matches (W14, D2)
- Their only previous European campaign took them to the quarter-finals of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup, losing to fellow Spanish side Alaves 4-2 on aggregate (3-0 away, 2-1 at home).
- This meant that they reached the UEFA final for the first time in their second season of European competition
- Real Betis became the first Spanish team to reach the final of the Conference League, after losing 1-4 to Chelsea last season
- Rayo coach Iñigo Pérez came on as a substitute in Athletic Bilbao’s 3-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the 2011/12 Europa League final.
- In his first season with UEFA, Pérez could become the second Spanish coach to win the conference league after Jose Luis Mendilibar won in 2023/24 with Olympiacos.
- Brazilian striker Alemao scored the only goal in each match of Rayo’s semi-final match against Strasbourg, in the first meeting between the Spanish and French teams in the Conference League.
