FA Cup glory would mean more to Palace than Man City: Glasner

LONDON: Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner believes winning Saturday´s FA Cup final will mean more to his club than their Wembley opponents Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola will be leading City in search of the 19th trophy of his glittering reign, while Palace have never won major silverware in their history. The unfashionable south London club have twice lost in the FA Cup final against Manchester United in 1990 and 2016.

Palace´s third appearance in the showpiece comes against a City team in the midst of their worst season for eight years. Glasner knows City are desperate to avoid a first season without silverware since 2016-17, but he claims victory would be sweet for the Eagles.

“If something is the first time in your life, then maybe it means more to you then when you have it every single year,” Glasner told reporters on Friday. “Under Pep, how many trophies they have won, how many City have, how many finals they have played, it´s definitely more than Crystal Palace have.

“Still, for the players, for a manager, for a club, winning a trophy is always something great in a season. “So I don´t expect that they will wave the white flag and then say, ´OK, it´s a first title for Crystal Palace, you should get it.´ I think they will fight to win it.”

Glasner expects influential midfielder Adam Wharton to feature at Wembley after he was ruled out of Sunday´s Premier League win at Tottenham. Palace can take heart from their spirited 2-2 draw against City at Selhurst Park in the Premier League in December.

Guardiola´s men fought back to earn a 5-2 victory in the rematch at the Etihad Stadium in April. But Palace´s impressive 3-0 win over Aston Villa in the semi-finals has led some pundits to back them to shock City on Saturday.

And Glasner sees no reason why Palace can not upset the odds at Wembley. “It´s football. So many things can happen, but we want to do it in our way. We will do it in our way, and then I think we have the best chances to win the final,” he said. “I think City will do the same. This is why 90,000 will watch, and I don´t know how many millions more on TV, because nobody knows the result, but we feel ready to win it.”