Crystal Palace Jamu Shakhtar Donetsk di Semifinal Conference League

Crystal Palace akan menjamu Shakhtar Donetsk pada laga leg kedua semifinal Conference League di Selhurst Park, Kamis, 7 Mei 2026, dengan keunggulan agregat 3-1. Pertandingan ini menjadi langkah krusial bagi The Eagles untuk mencapai final mayor Eropa pertama mereka di Leipzig pada akhir Mei mendatang.

Manajer Crystal Palace, Oliver Glasner, menegaskan komitmennya untuk memberikan hasil terbaik sebelum meninggalkan klub pada akhir musim ini. Pelatih asal Austria tersebut sebelumnya telah membawa Palace menjuarai Piala FA 2025 dan Community Shield sebelum memutuskan tidak memperpanjang kontraknya di London Selatan.

"I made my decision and I have my reasons, but as I've always said, we want to end the season in the best possible way -- and now we have the chance to do it," ujar Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Glasner menekankan bahwa timnya tidak boleh terhanyut dalam suasana emosional meski masa jabatannya akan segera berakhir dalam hitungan minggu. Fokus utama saat ini adalah memastikan klub kembali berkompetisi di kancah Eropa musim depan melalui jalur juara.

"Now is not the time to get melancholic. It's about staying focused," kata Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Mantan pelatih Eintracht Frankfurt ini mendorong para pemainnya untuk memberikan segalanya demi kebanggaan klub dan para pendukung setia di Selhurst Park. Ia mengibaratkan kesuksesan gelar juara sebagai rasa manis yang ingin diulang kembali oleh anak asuhnya.

"I tell the players very often: don't do anything for me, do it for yourselves, do it for the club, do it for the fans, because winning the Conference League means European football again next year at Selhurst," ungkap Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Glasner menambahkan perumpamaan unik mengenai motivasi timnya yang sudah pernah merasakan kesuksesan mengangkat trofi mayor sebelumnya. Ambisi besar menyelimuti skuat Palace untuk tidak sekadar tampil sebagai peserta di fase gugur ini.

"The players tasted the honey last year with the FA Cup. This year it's the Conference League and they want honey again. They won't be happy with just avocado, so they want it a bit sweeter," tutur Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Terkait kondisi skuat, Glasner memberikan kabar terbaru mengenai sejumlah pemain yang absen karena cedera, termasuk Evann Guessand dan Borna Sosa. Meski Will Hughes sudah kembali pulih, Guessand dipastikan belum bisa memperkuat tim pada laga penentuan ini.

"The good news is that Will Hughes is back [from the illness which ruled him out against Bournemouth]," ujar Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Proses pemulihan Guessand disebut masih berada pada tahap akhir rehabilitasi sebelum benar-benar terintegrasi kembali dengan sesi latihan tim utama. Glasner memilih untuk bersikap hati-hati demi kesejahteraan pemain jangka panjang.

"Evann trained today, but just partly. It’s too early, so he doesn’t make the squad tomorrow. We have to decide on a daily basis," kata Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Manajer berusia 51 tahun itu juga mengonfirmasi absennya Borna Sosa yang tidak tersedia dalam pertandingan terakhir melawan Bournemouth di Liga Inggris. Daftar cedera Palace kian panjang dengan belum kembalinya Eddie Nketiah dan Cheick Doucoure ke lapangan hijau.

"Borna Sosa is still out – he wasn’t available for Bournemouth and is also still out – and of course Eddie Nketiah and Cheick Doucouré [are unavailable]," jelas Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Meski banyak pilar yang menepi, Glasner meyakinkan bahwa anggota tim lainnya berada dalam kondisi siap tempur. Seluruh pemain yang tersisa telah disiapkan untuk menghadapi perlawanan sengit dari wakil Ukraina tersebut.

"All other players are fit and available," tegas Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Proses integrasi Guessand ke dalam latihan tim masih menjadi perhatian staf pelatih karena minimnya waktu latihan di sela-sela jadwal pertandingan yang padat. Glasner menjelaskan perbedaan antara latihan individu dengan latihan bersama skuat utama.

"It’s now the last part of his rehab: getting integrated into team training," ungkap Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Latihan tim menjadi syarat mutlak bagi Guessand untuk bisa kembali bersaing memperebutkan posisi di starting line-up. Glasner memastikan tim medis bekerja keras untuk memantau perkembangan setiap sesi yang dijalani pemain Ivorian tersebut.

"We don’t have lots of training [between matches]. That's why we really use every session we have. It's different if you train individually, but he's still doing it with the rehab coach individually," papar Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Kesejahteraan pemain tetap menjadi prioritas utama bagi Glasner dalam mengambil keputusan di fase krusial kompetisi. Ia tidak ingin memaksakan pemain yang belum bugar 100 persen meskipun taruhannya adalah tiket ke final.

"When you're part of team training, this is what he needs now, but like always, a player’s welfare is most important," kata Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Mengenai peluang lolos, Glasner memperingatkan anak asuhnya agar tidak jemawa dengan keunggulan dua gol dari leg pertama. Ia menilai Shakhtar Donetsk tetap menjadi ancaman serius dengan kualitas individu pemainnya yang mumpuni.

"I think nobody believes [the tie is done]," ujar Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Glasner memuji kemampuan dribel dan kecepatan para pemain Shakhtar yang sempat merepotkan pertahanan Palace pada pertemuan pertama. Ia meminta timnya mengulangi performa hebat seperti saat menyingkirkan Fiorentina di babak sebelumnya.

"We could see how good Shakhtar are as a team, and also their players, quick players, good dribblers, and we will need another great performance," tutur Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Dukungan suporter di Selhurst Park diyakini akan menciptakan atmosfer yang lebih bertenaga dan membantu tim mencapai performa puncak. Glasner percaya bahwa atmosfer stadion akan memberikan dorongan ekstra bagi para pemainnya.

"But of course we play the game tomorrow with a lot of confidence at Selhurst. We know we will have fantastic support from our fans. We could feel it against Fiorentina at home, and I think and believe it will be a bit more electric tomorrow, and that’s what we need," ungkap Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Strategi Palace untuk laga esok tidak akan mengalami banyak perubahan signifikan dari pola permainan yang sudah teruji. Glasner hanya menuntut level fokus tertinggi agar skema permainan berjalan sempurna selama 90 menit.

"Then, it’s playing our game and giving our best. We know what we need to do, we don’t need to change a lot. We don’t need to find something that we didn’t find right now, it’s just really playing at our best level – and this is what we will try tomorrow," pungkas Oliver Glasner, Manajer Crystal Palace.

Di kubu lawan, penyerang Shakhtar Donetsk, Kaua Elias, menyatakan keyakinan tinggi bahwa timnya mampu melakukan aksi comeback. Elias menegaskan bahwa skuat asuhan Arda Turan tersebut telah mempersiapkan diri secara matang untuk membalikkan keadaan.

"We understand how important this game is, and we have been really looking forward to it. First of all, we believe in victory not only in tomorrow’s match but in the semi-final as a whole. We know how strong our opponents are and how difficult it will be to play against them. But the most important thing is that we believe in all the options we have, we believe in our head coach and in our chances to achieve this comeback and play a great match in line with our style of football," kata Kaua Elias, Penyerang Shakhtar Donetsk.

Elias mengakui bahwa menghadapi klub dari Liga Inggris merupakan tantangan besar bagi Shakhtar, namun hal itu justru menjadi motivasi tambahan. Evaluasi mendalam telah dilakukan tim pelatih untuk meminimalkan kesalahan yang terjadi pada leg pertama.

"First of all, I was very surprised in a positive way because these are the types of games we are not yet fully accustomed to. Of course, there is no need to remind anyone that our opponents play in the Premier League – the strongest league in the world. As for our preparation, we try to improve our individual and team actions, study the opponents’ style of play and analyse their strengths and weaknesses. We will also try, so to speak, to neutralise their advantages in some way and come out as winners," jelas Kaua Elias, Penyerang Shakhtar Donetsk.

Penyerang asal Brasil itu juga menepis spekulasi transfer mengenai masa depannya di tengah minat klub-klub Eropa lainnya. Elias menegaskan kesetiaannya pada Shakhtar dan fokus untuk membantu tim meraih kesuksesan di kancah domestik maupun Eropa.

"First of all, I only dream of finishing this season well. That means we still believe we can reach the Conference League final, and we are also very close to achieving our goal of winning the UPL. Things related to my potential transfer to another club, I will keep, so to speak, under wraps. Right now I’m fully focused on playing for Shakhtar and want to score as many goals as possible this season and help my teammates score as many as possible. The most important thing for me is not to let anything distract me from football. Arda Turan is an incredible young coach, and despite that, he already has huge experience as a player – it is even hard to explain, and he has already helped us learn many things this season. I hope to learn even more from him," papar Kaua Elias, Penyerang Shakhtar Donetsk.

Meski menyadari sulitnya mengalahkan tim Premier League di kandangnya, Elias menganggap misi tersebut bukanlah hal yang mustahil. Ia percaya taktik yang disiapkan Arda Turan akan menjadi kunci kemenangan bagi wakil Ukraina itu.

"I believe playing against a Premier League club is always an extremely difficult task. But it is very important to emphasise that it is not an impossible one. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you exactly how we will approach the opponents, but I believe Arda Turan and his coaching staff have already prepared a way to win tomorrow. It is also important to stress that Arda Turan makes us understand how important it is to represent Shakhtar at this level. All of us – the Ukrainians and Brazilians at Shakhtar – have a difficult task, but as I said before, it is not an impossible one. So reaching the final and potentially winning it would be the greatest gift for Ukrainians," tegas Kaua Elias, Penyerang Shakhtar Donetsk.

Elias juga mengomentari pujian dari pemain Palace, Jaydee Canvot, yang menyebutkan sulitnya berduel dengannya. Ia merasa bangga bisa bersaing dengan bek-bek tangguh di level internasional untuk meningkatkan kemampuannya sendiri.

"Playing against such strong opponents is an incredible opportunity to grow as a footballer. I always want to have the chance to face centre-backs of different styles, as it also helps me develop. About Jaydee Canvot, I can say that he is an amazing player and opponent. It was difficult for me to face him in the first leg. It was an incredible experience that I will always remember. Regarding the game, there are many things we need to change compared to the first match. For example, we left too much space for the opponents, which we should not have done. Of course, we will work on all of this, analyse it, learn from our mistakes and come into this match fully prepared," jelas Kaua Elias, Penyerang Shakhtar Donetsk.

Terakhir, Elias mengungkapkan bahwa dirinya telah berkonsultasi dengan beberapa rekan yang bermain di Inggris untuk mendapatkan saran. Meskipun pembicaraannya dengan mantan rekan setim bernama Kevin tidak membahas lawan secara spesifik, ia mendapatkan masukan berharga lainnya.

"Yes, of course, we spoke, but not about this. We talked about everything except the opponents. I have other friends who play in the Premier League who can give me some advice. They gave me, I would say, very good guidance, which we will try to implement. It is no secret that our rivals are a top team, and we need to give our absolute best to achieve our main goal," pungkas Kaua Elias, Penyerang Shakhtar Donetsk.