By Paul Green at Selhurst Park
OLIVER Glasner believes Crystal Palace have got their mojo back at just the right time going into their first-ever European final this month.
The Eagles booked a Conference League decider date with Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig after overcoming Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 at Selhurst Park last Thursday evening, wrapping up a 5-2 aggregate success.
Just three days later, Palace were back in SE25 where they twice came from behind to share the spoils with Everton on Sunday thanks to goals from Ismaila Sarr and substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 2-2 draw.
That point against the Toffees, combined with West Ham United’s subsequent 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, means Palace are now mathematically safe from relegation.
And the manager reckons there are parallels to be drawn with how the club finished last year’s campaign, which ended with FA Cup glory against Manchester City at Wembley, going into the Rayo Vallecano clash.
Glasner explained: “We are always talking about our standards. And we always want to show our standards because then we know we will have a good performance and it means we will get enough points at the end of the season.
“It doesn’t mean that you always win. I always felt we had a very good performance at Liverpool when we lost 3-1.
“We had a really difficult performance against Bournemouth but today it was a good performance.
“For me it is maybe since the Fiorentina home game that everybody now knows we are coming to the final stage of the season, it is a vibe we have started to create.
“Maybe now the vibe is here around Selhurst, around the club, in the club together with our fans that everybody is enjoying the football, everybody is enjoying the team, everybody is enjoying the club, everybody is enjoying himself and the whole situation we are in.”
He added: “This vibe has really started since this Fiorentina game. It is not a problem to be 2-1 down.
“It is not a problem for the fans, it is not a problem for the players because everybody has the belief we can strike back. This is what this group of players created again.
“I think it was a bit similar before the semi-final and final at Wembley when we played [Aston] Villa and Man City that there was this vibe, this belief that we could get it done. For me it feels like it is back again.
“We will need this until the 27th of May. We have two-and-a-half great weeks together and this is what it is all about.”
