Two statistics per team from Wednesday's Conference League final as Crystal Palace triumph

Two statistics per team from Wednesday's Conference League final as Crystal Palace triumph
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Palace complete debut season with trophy

4. Jean-Philippe Mateta's strike six minutes into the second half proved decisive, making it three English champions in the five years of the Conference League. Oliver Glasner, previously victorious in the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt four years earlier, departs the club having added another trophy to his collection.

This achievement made Palace the twelfth distinct Premier League club to secure a major European trophy, and the fourth to accomplish this in their first campaign abroad. The others who had done so were West Ham (1964/65 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup), Chelsea (1970/71 Cup Winners' Cup), and Nottingham Forest (1978/79 European Cup).

8. Many considered the Eagles overwhelming favourites to win the UECL this season, and despite not always playing excellently, they ultimately justified that expectation. After being demoted to this competition due to multi-club ownership violations involving Lyon, Palace will now have the opportunity to compete in the Europa League next autumn. Over 17 matches in the Conference League, the South London side registered ten victories, defeating opponents from eight different countries.

Disappointment for Rayo Vallecano as campaign ends without silverware

2. After narrowly missing out on European qualification domestically, Rayo Vallecano encountered the same disappointment just four days later. They recorded only one shot on target during the entire 90 minutes, two fewer than their opponents, and failed to seriously test Dean Henderson. Rayo's second European campaign was still commendable, even though they fell one match short of the ultimate prize. Los Franjirrojos failed to score for only the second time in this UECL season, the other occasion being the round of 16 second leg against Samsunspor, which they also lost 1-0.

7. Rayo must wait at least another year for a return to continental football, a harsh outcome for the Madrid-based club. Their record of 10 wins, 1 draw, and 4 defeats in the UECL is the best of any Spanish team across the four years of the competition, achieving one more win than Real Betis managed in the previous season.

Nevertheless, Rayo Vallecano feature in an unwanted statistic for Spanish clubs, becoming the sixth different team to have a losing record in major European finals. Remarkably, only one of those sides, Atletico Madrid, has won a continental trophy. The others are Athletic Club, Espanyol, Alaves, Betis, and Mallorca.