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With Aston Villa having been crowned Europa League champions last week and Arsenal poised to take on Paris Saint-Germain in the final of UEFA’s most prestigious competition on Saturday evening, there’s a chance that all three pieces of European silverware will be in the possession of Premier League clubs.
Crystal Palace had never previously competed in a major European competition ahead of the current campaign, but did participate in the 1998 edition of the now-defunct Intertoto Cup. The Eagles fell at the first hurdle on that occasion, suffering a sobering 4-0 aggregate defeat to Turkish outfit Samsunspor. However, it’s been an entirely different story this time around, with Oliver Glasner’s men eliminating a series of tricky opponents en route to this Wednesday’s showpiece at the Red Bull Arena.
Rayo Vallecano also travel to Leipzig in confident spirits, after enjoying an extremely fruitful campaign on both domestic and continental fronts. Hailing from the Puente de Vallecas district in Madrid’s south-eastern suburbs, Vallecano’s exploits – much like their Conference League final opponents – are often overshadowed by the achievements of surrounding big clubs.
Los Franjirojos are now themselves on the cusp of greatness, a quarter of a century on from their only previous European campaign. Having qualified for the 2000/01 UEFA Cup as one of three Fair Play Award winners, Vallecano impressively advanced to the last eight of the competition before being knocked out by La Liga rivals Alavés, who would later lose a thrilling final to Liverpool 5-4.
So, who will prevail in eastern Germany this Wednesday evening?
2026 Conference League final: Key info
Date: Wednesday, 27th May
Kick-off time: 20:00 (BST)
Venue: Red Bull Arena, Leipzig
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Assistant Referees: Daniele Bindoni and Alberto Tegoni, Fourth Official: Glenn Nyberg)
VAR: Marco Di Bello (Assistant VAR: Daniele Chiffi)
TV Channels/Live stream: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate, HBO Max
Odds (to win trophy): Crystal Palace: 4/9, Rayo Vallecano: 13/8
Odds provided by bet365
The story so far
It’s not been an easy route to the final for either of these sides, who have both overcome several setbacks during an absorbing Conference League campaign. Although Crystal Palace were expected to progress deep into the competition, Rayo Vallecano have exceeded all expectations. However, whoever prevails on Wednesday evening will undoubtedly be a deserved champion.
Crystal Palace
After the high of winning their maiden European contest thanks to a comfortable victory over Dynamo Kyiv in Poland, Crystal Palace came crashing down to earth the following matchday. In a battle between the English FA Cup and Cypriot Cup holders at Selhurst Park, AEK Larnaca recorded a shock 1-0 triumph.
Palace’s inconsistency continued into the next set of fixtures, while their Premier League form began to take a turn for the worse. An encouraging 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar was followed by a defeat to Strasbourg, who would conclude the league phase at the summit of the Conference League table. Having swept aside 14-time Irish champions Shelbourne at Tolka Park, the south Londoners missed an opportunity to qualify automatically for the round of 16 stage by drawing with Finnish minnows KuPS.
Zrinjski Mostar were put to the sword with relative ease in the knockout phase play-offs, but the Eagles needed an extra-time strike from Ismaïla Sarr to ensure they avoided a second loss in quick succession to a stubborn AEK Larnaca outfit. Palace then breezed past Fiorentina despite being narrowly beaten in Florence, before getting the better of 2009 UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk – their second success against Ukrainian opposition – at the semi-final stage.
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano only experienced one defeat during the entire league phase campaign, a 2-1 reverse to Slovan Bratislava on matchday four. The Spaniards accrued seven points from their opening three fixtures, dispatching North Macedonian Shkëndija and reigning Polish champions Lech Poznań on home soil either side of a 2-2 draw with Häcken in Gothenburg.
After that solitary disappointment in the Slovakian capital, Vallecano overcame Jagiellonia Białystok and FC Drita to finish fifth in the table and therefore advance straight through to the last sixteen. Despite suffering second-leg losses in each of the next two rounds, ‘El Matagigantes’ did enough to set up a semi-final showdown with Strasbourg. Brazilian centre-forward Alemão would score the only two goals of the tie, heading home at the Vallecas Stadium before doubling his team’s aggregate advantage in Alsace.
The only team to net more goals than Vallecano during this season’s Conference League is Crystal Palace, who have played two additional matches due to finishing the league phase in tenth position. Therefore, don’t be surprised if we witness a high-scoring encounter on Wednesday night.
Previous finals
This season marks the fifth edition of the Conference League, which was launched in 2021 as UEFA’s third-ranked club competition.
A Premier League representative has won the Conference League in two of the last three campaigns, with West Ham and Chelsea clinching the title in 2023 and 2025, respectively. As the Blues defeated Real Betis to secure the trophy last year, this season marks the second consecutive Conference League showpiece that will stage a contest between English and Spanish opposition. Fiorentina are the only team to have featured in two Conference League finals, while fellow Serie A outfit Roma were the inaugural winners of the competition.
Here's an overview of what’s previously happened in this fixture:
21/22: Despite losing twice to Norwegian underdogs Bodø/Glimt earlier on in the competition, Roma managed to navigate their way to the first-ever Conference League final. José Mourinho’s side then edged past Dutch giants Feyenoord in Tirana, thanks to a deft finish from attacking midfielder Nicolò Zaniolo.
Roma would appear in back-to-back European finals after venturing to the brink of Europa League glory in 2023, but were subsequently beaten by competition specialists Sevilla. The Andalusians earned a staggering seventh Europa League title thanks to Gonzalo Montiel’s controversially re-taken penalty, leaving José Mourinho fuming with English referee Anthony Taylor.
22/23: Following a cagey opening hour at the Fortuna Arena, the clash between West Ham and Fiorentina suddenly sprang into life. After a VAR review determined that Cristiano Biraghi had handled the ball in his own box, Saïd Benrahma emphatically converted the resultant penalty to put the Hammers in front. Giacomo Bonaventura cancelled out the Algerian’s spot-kick five minutes later with a well-taken equaliser, leading to a grandstand finish in the Czech capital.
With injury time fast approaching, Jarrod Bowen fired the ball beyond the onrushing Pietro Terracciano to ensure West Ham claimed European silverware for just the second time in their history, almost six decades on from the club’s Cup Winners’ Cup success.
23/24: Fiorentina would suffer further heartbreak a year later, after progressing to a second Conference League final on the bounce. The tie did move into extra-time on this occasion, as neither the Italians nor Olympiacos were able to find the net during the regulation 90 minutes.
Having travelled less than ten miles from their iconic Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium to contest the final at the home of their local rivals AEK Athens, Olympiacos became the first Greek side to win a major European honour on a historic night for the Piraeus-based outfit. Just as a penalty shootout began to feel inevitable, Ayoub El Kaabi delicately headed home to spark wild celebrations amongst the watching natives.
24/25: By emerging triumphant in last season's Conference League, Chelsea became the first club in history to boast the unique achievement of winning all four past and present major European competitions (Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, and Cup Winners’ Cup).
It looked as if the west Londoners would struggle to complete this unprecedented quartet of continental crowns, after Real Betis forward Abde Ezzalzouli broke the deadlock early on at the Wrocław Stadium. However, a devastating 18-minute salvo put Chelsea firmly in the driving seat, as second-half goals from Enzo Fernández, Nicolas Jackson, and Jadon Sancho turned the final on its head. Moisés Caicedo put the final nail in the coffin late on, as Betis were left to wonder what might have been.