Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner says qualifying for the UEFA Europa League is a historic day for the club , despite a disappointing performance against Fredrikstad FC .  

Facing a formidable opponent, Crystal Palace displayed a resilient spirit, seizing every opportunity. With 1,700 fans from South London cheering on, the team ultimately won 1-0 on aggregate and qualified for Europe's top competition for the first time.  

Head coach Oliver Glasner said in the post-match press conference: "We didn't have good ball possession today, especially in the final third. We couldn't find the right space and lacked sufficient passing accuracy. Today we didn't do our best in running, passing and crossing, and we lost the ball easily many times."  

“On the other hand, we also noticed that some players struggled on the artificial turf. Therefore, keeping a clean sheet was crucial, and we managed it. It wasn’t easy against Fredrikstad FC. They used a simple but well-executed long-ball strategy to push the game into the final third. Furthermore, their long throw-ins and set pieces always created danger for five or six players in our penalty area.”  

“I think our best performance today at the top level was defending the box, which is not easy and the players deserve credit. If you can’t win, the only principle is not to lose. That’s exactly what we did today, which led to our second goal of the season. The first goal came in the Community Shield win, and the players also deserve credit.”  

"The second option was to advance, as we had originally expected to reach the Europa League group stage. However, two weeks ago we received the final ruling that we had to participate in the league play-offs. Of course, the players were under pressure because we felt we should have reached the group stage. But at the same time, we knew we had to overcome the difficulties, and the players eventually scored the second crucial goal, which is commendable."  

"It's a great and important day for Crystal Palace as we progress to the European group stage and this group of players have shown their quality once again."  

Oliver Glasner also paid tribute to the fans who travelled nearly 700 miles to bring the famous south London atmosphere to Norway.  

He said: "Yes, we did discuss it. It is also a reward for the hard work of last season. Our fans are mainly from South London and they come to Norway for the first time. Now we have at least three away games in the Europa League stage and all of them are against strong opponents."  

"I think it's a really great experience. Traveling isn't just about going to the games, it's about arriving a day early, spending a night with friends, enjoying the game, looking forward to having a good time again, and then returning to work."  

"It all comes down to the fans because they invest a lot of time and money. It's rare to have fans like this, who travel all over and continue to support the team. Even though they didn't see Crystal Palace's best performance today, they were still happy and that's the most important thing."