You wonder, when the floodlights switch off on Oliver Glasner’s reign this summer, how much he and Crystal Palace will regret their divorce.
You wonder how much they’ll long for more spring nights like these, journeying to the storied club of Gabriel Batistuta in the sun-kissed hills of Tuscany, singing proudly of South London’s finest.
This clash was more stressful than needed. Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix came off hurt and Fiorentina threatened an aggregate comeback. But Palace got over the line and they are piecing together a potentially glorious send-off for Glasner, and perhaps several stars, after a fractured few months.
In January, Glasner said his heart had been torn out by the sales of Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi in the space of a few months and robustly criticised the club’s hierarchy. He revealed that he was leaving, and by February was telling fans to ‘stay humble’.
It was an ugly episode and relationships suffered for it. He endured ‘sacked in the morning’ chants in Mostar and boos and protest banners at Selhurst Park.
But make no mistake: Glasner is the greatest manager in Palace’s history. He already has the FA Cup and Community Shield under his belt, and now the Eagles look forward to the first European semi-final of their 121-year history.
They face Shakhtar Donetsk in two weeks and, with the greatest respect to the remaining contenders, are favourites to win the Conference League.
Palace burst out of the gate and Daniel Munoz almost killed the tie three minutes in when his effort sailed past the post.
Ismaila Sarr opened the scoring early on with a header too hot for David de Gea to handle, bagging his 17th goal of the season. It can’t be long before the big ships come fishing for the Senegalese winger.
Palace were on top but Fiorentina did their damage. Albert Gudmundsson levelled from the spot after a clumsy foul from Jaydee Canvot on Rolando Mandragora.
And the 1,400 travelling fans witnessed two injury scares in the first half. Wharton looked in considerable discomfort, and somewhat spooked about his England prospects, after hurting his groin. Lacroix limped for several minutes after a collision with Daniel Munoz and was hooked before the break, though he later said there was ‘no problem’ posting on Instagram. Mateta was removed at half-time in suspicious circumstances, with one image showing him holding an ice pack to his leg.
‘We subbed JP at half-time because we knew he couldn’t play 90 minutes,’ Glasner told TNT Sports.
‘Adam his adductor, again, [like] where he had to leave the England camp. Let’s see, he doesn’t look so serious but we have to assess him further.
‘Maxence, he touched foot to foot, and felt his knee, the medial ligament. Let’s see. It’s painful. Unfortunately we’re playing in four days again.’
Early in the second half, substitute Cher Ndour injected some jeopardy into the tie when he beat Dean Henderson from range. Fiorentina launched wave after wave of attack and the visitors had to hunker down to see this through.
Glasner has a maximum of 10 games left. Jean-Philippe Mateta looks likely to leave – he almost did for AC Milan in the winter and received a frosty reception on his return from injury in March against Larnaca. Wharton, Sarr, and Lacroix will surely have their admirers.
The sun is setting on an era at Crystal Palace, but it does not have to end coldly. They should savour nights like this, and dream all the louder.
