Crystal Palace and Oliver Glasner head to Leipzig with fairytale ending in sight

In game No 60 of an unrelenting season the manager can sign off in style if he adds the Conference League trophy to last year’s FA Cup

Oliver Glasner couldn’t resist the temptation. As he addressed the crowd after his last match at Selhurst Park on Sunday, the Austrian who will go down as Crystal Palace’s greatest manager showed he retains his sense of humour. “Now I’m leaving, I don’t have to agree with the chairman,” he said with a smile. “He said the best day was the FA Cup final but I don’t agree. The best day is still to come in Leipzig.”

Should Palace beat Rayo Vallecano in Wednesday night’s Conference League final to win a third trophy in 12 months, Glasner’s stay will have a fairytale ending that barely seemed possible in the dark days of January. After the holders were stunned by Macclesfield in one of the biggest FA Cup shocks recorded, he accused the chair, Steve Parish, of abandoning him by then selling the captain Marc Guéhi to Manchester City and told supporters who had chanted his name on three successful trips to Wembley last year to “stay humble”.