With Ismaila Sarr's 17th minute goal, Palace secured their Conference League semi-final spot. Is it now their competition to lose?
Ismaila Sarr’s goal in the 17th minute in Florence effectively put this tie to bed - Palace were into the final four of a European competition.
And despite eventually losing the clash with Fiorentina after an Albert Gudmundsson penalty and a goal from Cher Ndour to put an end to their perfect form since the international break, Palace can now look forward to a semi-final of the Conference League.
In doing so, it meant that the Premier League is the only league to have a representative in all three competitions, with Arsenal in the Champions League, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa in the Europa League and of course Palace in the Conference League.
The winner of Villa and Forest’s clash will be the favourite to take the Europa League, Arsenal will be expected to find a way past Atletico Madrid and into the Champions League final, but what of Palace?
For many, the 2025 FA Cup champions have long been the favourites to go all the way in this competition, even if they did not make it easy for themselves at times.
Finishing outside of the top eight in the league phases added two extra games in the play-off stage, and Palace did not exactly make light work of Zrinjski or AEK Athens.
But they made it through, and in the first leg against Fiorentina, they showed not just their credentials but a very ominous sign that they are going to be hard to beat.
The Eagles have found their usual run of post-international break form under Oliver Glasner that has become synonymous with them in the past three seasons.
And in Ismaila Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Yeremy Pino, Palace have an attack that can cause problems to anyone, and a defence which has proven to be stubborn in recent weeks.
Compared to the three remaining teams in the competition, Strasbourg, Rayo Vallecano and their semi-final opponents Shakhtar Donetsk, Palace have far more depth and more big game experience.
In Glasner, they have a manager capable of going all the way in Europe, with the Austrian guiding a Frankfurt team that contained Daichi Kamada to the Europa League title in 2022.
All of these signs are suggesting that Palace are the favourites to be the third London-based side to win the Conference League, after the triumphs of West Ham and Chelsea.
And the bookies too are in accordance with that general feeling, placing Crystal Palace as 11/10 favourites to lift the trophy.
It is all shaping up very nicely to be another excellent spring for Crystal Palace supporters.