Crystal Palace are through to the Conference League quarter-finals after seeing off Zrinjski, and Oliver Glasner has been refreshingly open about what the achievement means for him on a personal level.
Speaking after the second leg, Glasner said he has “100% assurance” on his future at the club and made clear he would “pack his suitcase” if that certainty did not exist — pointed words from a manager who had sections of the away support calling for his removal during a frustrating first leg in Bosnia.
Palace beat Zrinjski 2-0 on the night, with Maxence Lacroix heading home an Adam Wharton free kick in the first half and Evann Guessand finishing things off in the closing stages for a 3-1 aggregate win.
The tie was never as comfortable as that scoreline suggests. Zrinjski, who had held Palace to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, showed enough defensive resilience in the early stages of Thursday’s game to suggest the hosts would need to be patient.
Dean Henderson made his 100th appearance for the club in goal, a milestone the captain marked with a clean sheet, and Adam Wharton’s midfield performance drew particular praise — the England midfielder increasingly looking like the player Palace have built their system around.
Glasner’s “personal admission” after the game was not explained in detail but carried the weight of a manager who understands the pressure surrounding his position. He made clear he is focused on “finishing his Palace career in style,” language that points to this season as the defining chapter of his time in south London.
For a club in their first major European campaign, simply reaching the last eight is a statement of intent, regardless of what comes next.
The question for Glasner and Palace is whether the European distraction has been helping or hindering their league form — they will need domestic points in their run-in — and tonight’s result at least removes one source of anxiety from an increasingly complicated final stretch.
