Palace on Tour: The European journey so far

Features

18 hours ago

After a two-month break European football is back on the agenda as Palace continue our UEFA Conference League campaign with a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina, facing HŠK Zrinjski Mostar in the play-off round.

The Eagles have already travelled far and wide across the continent, with Mostar our fifth European away day of the campaign.

Norway, Poland, France and the Republic of Ireland have already provided the stage for some historic away days. In total, we've already clocked up 5,386 miles combined in our various travels so far – hopefully with plenty more still to come.

The historical capital of Herzegovina, Mostar, is the next stop on Palace's European adventure.

A win over two legs would set us up for a Round of 16 clash against either Cypriot Cup winners AEK Larnaca or German side Mainz 05.

But before we look ahead, let's recap on some of the best moments from our European trips so far.

From South London to Europe | This Is Our Night

Fredrikstad

Our first UEFA Conference League assignment was to qualify for the competition 'proper.' That meant a play-off round tie with the Eagles drawn against Norwegian side Fredrikstad.

Palace made the long trip to the Østfold county with a one-goal lead from the first leg, Jean-Philippe Mateta's effort ensuring a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park.

That meant a draw would be enough to book our first league stage qualification for a European competition. The game itself was not a classic.

Palace dominated the ball but in the early stages struggled to adjust to the demands of the artificial surface at the hosts' stadium.

Chris Richards, Justin Devenny and Mateta all missed good chances in the second-half, but thankfully it didn't matter with the tie finishing 0-0 on the night, 1-0 to Palace on aggregate.

The scenes in the away end at full-time were joyous, as the prospect of a fully-fledged European tour was finally confirmed. The 90 minutes may have not been the most memorable, but for those who made the trip to Norway, sampling a first European away day would never be forgotten.

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Dynamo Kyiv

With European heavyweights Dynamo Kyiv currently playing their home European games in Poland, Lublin was the destination for Palace's first away trip in a European league tie.

It ended up being the away day of dreams. Although there were plenty of red and blue shirts already spotted around Kraków Gate and the city's magnificent old town on the Wednesday evening, by Thursday lunchtime a Palace takeover was in full swing.

In glorious autumnal sunshine Lublin became the perfect setting for the first major trip. All that was needed was a result on the pitch, with this the first of six league phase games for Oliver Glasner's side.

Palace gave the sort of performance that European regulars would have been proud of, with goals in each half from Daniel Muñoz and Eddie Nketiah sealing a 2-0 win. It was also a result which saw us set a new club record of 19 matches unbeaten in all competitions.

Many of the Eagles enjoying a historic evening in Poland were then up on Merseyside less than 72 hours later for our first trip to Everton's new stadium, the Hill Dickinson. If just one three-day period this season sums up the incredible South London support on the road, that might be it.

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Match Highlights: Dynamo Kyiv 0-2 Crystal Palace

RC Strasbourg

Despite a defeat to AEK Larnaca on matchday two, a convincing win over AZ Alkmaar at Selhurst Park meant that Eagles fans could travel to Strasbourg with a degree of optimism.

The capital city of the cultural Alsace region, close to the German border in France, was another culturally rich setting for Palace's European tour.

But one of the tournament favourites then provided a reminder of just how tough football on the continent could be.

Tyrick Mitchell fired Palace into the lead in a close first-half that the Eagles probably shaded on balance. But two goals from the hosts meant they took the three points and left us with work to do in the final two matchdays to secure progression to the knock-out stage.

Match Highlights | RC Strasbourg 2-1 Crystal Palace

Shelbourne

A trip to Dublin right before Christmas... it's fair to say this was the dream draw for many Palace fans when our league phase schedule was initially announced in August.

Off the pitch travelling Eagles flooded the Temple Bar and many of Dublin's other famous watering holes from the morning on a rainy Thursday in Ireland.

But on the pitch, there was serious work to do. Palace needed three points to stay on track for qualification against highly motivated opponents.

In the end quality shone through. The Eagles cruised to a dominant victory with first-half goals from Christantus Uche, Eddie Nketiah and Yeremy Pino doing the damage.

The only down side was no further goals followed after the break, but Palace fans could return to Dublin city centre from the away section at the Tallaght Stadium knowing that they were almost certain to be playing European football again in the New Year.

A draw against KuPS at Selhurst Park a week later confirmed a final league placing of 10th for Palace. That meant the play-off round would need to be navigated, which starts with Thursday's clash with Mostar.