Crystal Palace FC's first-ever major European adventure is underway, as we battle to win the UEFA Conference League. Find out how you can join us on our journey.

European Tour

## Our Senegalese Sarr

> Ismaïla Sarr became the club’s third signing of the 2024/25 summer transfer window after joining on a five-year deal from Olympique de Marseille.

The 26-year-old attacker possesses plenty of experience of English football, having spent four years at Watford – recording 34 goals and 22 assists in 131 games – prior to joining Marseille, whom he helped reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League last season.

Sarr's career began in French football with Metz, before moving to Rennes and leading the club into Europe, as well as winning their first Coupe de France in almost half a century.

At international level, he has been a mainstay of the Senegal national side, earning 64 caps, scoring 13 goals and winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021.

His career has also been defined by his eye for the spectacular, having won Goal of the Season awards in both the Football League and the Europa League.

Sarr was ever-present in every Premier League matchday squad in his first season at the club, playing in all 38 games, while also featuring in a further nine cup games. He scored 11 goals across all competitions, with eight additional assists - including a stunning effort against rivals Brighton & Hove Albion and a brace against Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final.

2022/23, Watford (v West Bromwich Albion)

EFL Goal of the Season

Watford, 2020/21

Player of the Season

Players' Player of the Season

2018/19, Rennes (v Jablonec)

UEFA Europa League Goal of the Season

December 2024

Crystal Palace Player of the Month

Sarr

Instagram

Appearances

Goals

Access All Over | Spurs (A)

Slow Motion v Tottenham Hotspur

All Angles | Ismaïla Sarr's Second Goal

Extended Highlights: Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Crystal Palace | Palace TV+

Goal of the month contenders | February 2026

Last time out | Zrinjski Mostar on Super8 

UEFA Conference League Match highlights: Zrinjski Mostar 1-1 Crystal Palace 

Sarr Previews Burnley

All Angles of Ismaïla Sarr's Goal v Brighton

The Full 90: Brighton v Crystal Palace | Palace TV+

Extended Highlights: Brighton 0-1 Crystal Palace | Palace TV +

Match Action: Brighton 0-1 Crystal Palace

Strand Larsen presents Sarr with Premier League Man of the Match

Ismaïla Sarr Returns From AFCON

Pre-match Press Conference | RC Strasbourg (A)

Goals Inside Box

Goals Outside Box

Right Foot

Left Foot

Shots

Shots on target

Hit woodwork

Penalties taken

Penalties scored

Touches

Touches in opposition box

Aerial duels

Aerial duels won

Interceptions

Blocks

Recoveries

Tackles won

Duels won

Clearances

Minutes

Attempted passes

Successful passes

Chances created

Crosses

Yellow cards

Red cards

Fouls won

Fouls Conceded

Season

Games

### HOW CAN I WATCH THE GAME LIVE?

The game kicks off on Tuesday, 10th March at 18:00 GMT at Villa Park and will be broadcast live on the **official Emirates [FA Cup YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@thefacup) –** embedded above!

### CAN'T WATCH LIVE?

If you can’t catch it live, supporters can follow **live commentary** on our [Academy X (Twitter) page](https://x.com/CPFCAcademy), with a full match report and extended reaction published shortly after full-time on our **[Academy news section](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/academy/)** and **[Palace TV+.](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/palace-tv/)** **Highlights** will also be available on **[Palace TV+.](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/palace-tv/)**

You can also stay updated via the **[official Crystal Palace App](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/information/palace-app-upgraded-download-and-use-now/)**, which delivers goal alerts and key match notifications straight to your phone. Live **Opta stats** on the app will keep you informed throughout the game.

Even before kick-off and after the final whistle, you can access **previews, reaction, and video content** all in one place, ensuring you don’t miss a moment of the action.

SUBSCRIBE TO PALACE TV+

### BE THERE IN PERSON:

Tickets are on sale now via [Aston Villa’s website](https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2026/march/03/ticketing-palace-fayc-ticket-details/) (50p transaction fee applies for online and phone sales):

- Adults: £5
- Under-18s: £2

**Important Information:**

- All tickets are digital; no collections available.
- Tickets appear in the Aston Villa app and can be downloaded to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
- Print-at-home tickets are available on request.
- Tickets are non-refundable.
- Aston Villa manage sales for both home and away supporters. No segregation; visiting fans can purchase seats in available on-sale blocks.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

### Match Details

**Aston Villa U18s v Crystal Palace U18s**

- Tuesday, 10th March
- 18:00 GMT
- FA Youth Cup quarter-final
- Villa Park
- Watch LIVE on the official [Emirates FA Cup YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@thefacup)
- Buy tickets [HERE](https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2026/march/03/ticketing-palace-fayc-ticket-details/)

Crystal Palace Under-18s travel to Villa Park TONIGHT (Tuesday, 10th March, 18:00 GMT) for our first Youth Cup quarter-final in over 15 years, watch the game below!

WATCH LIVE: Villa v Palace in Youth Cup quarter-finals

Aston Villa U18 v Crystal Palace U18 (2026-03-14)

Crystal Palace

Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur

Last Match

AEK Larnaca

UEFA Conference League

Next Match

Shop Palace Shirts

Having secured victory in our first-ever major European knockout tie, beating HSK Zrinjski Mostar 3-1 on aggregate, our continental campaign continues this coming Thursday against Cypriot Cup holders AEK Larnaca in the Round of 16.

The first leg will be played at home on **Thursday (20:00 GMT)** – and if you haven't yet leant your voice to this historic moment in the club's history, now is the perfect time to do so.

Ticketing information can be found below, with prices the same as in previous stages.

*More information regarding tickets for the second leg in Larnaca – scheduled for Thursday, 19th March – [can be found here](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/tickets/ticket-details-aek-larnaca-crystal-palace-march-2026/).*

**Supporters are urged to read the below information about the home leg in full before purchasing tickets.**

Buy tickets

#### Ticket Distribution

All tickets for this fixture will be emailed approximately one week before the game to the transaction owner.

Tickets will be available as PDF Print at Home tickets, or Digital tickets to download to your Apple or Google Wallet.

#### Prices

- **Adults:** £40
- **Seniors (65+) and 18-21s:** £30
- **Under 18s:** £25

#### Important Information

All tickets can be purchased in the standard way via our **[Ticketing website](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/)**.

To purchase tickets on behalf of a friend or family member, you must have a strong relationship, which can be set in the **Friends and Family section** of the Ticketing website. **[Click here to find out how to do this](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/how-to-use-palace-app-and-website).**

Unfortunately, due to UEFA requirements and the addition of a singing section, a small number of Season Ticket Holders have been displaced and were instead offered a priority on all remaining seats in Phase 2. All displaced supporters were emailed in advance of tickets going on sale.

#### Premium Matchday Packages

This historic European clash under the Selhurst Park lights is the perfect time to experience one of our Premium lounges, offering a range of modern dining and inclusive drinks to enjoy amongst friends, family or colleagues.

**[Premium Experiences are now available to purchase](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/EDP/Hospitality/Index/980)**, with no Membership required. Experiences start from just £210 inc. VAT.

Alternatively, speak to one of our team by **[enquiring now](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/hospitality/enquire/).**

#### Match Details

**Crystal Palace v AEK Larnaca**

- Thursday, 12th March
- 20:00 GMT
- Selhurst Park
- UEFA Conference League Round of 16, first leg
- [Click here to buy tickets.](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/EDP/Event/Index/979?position=1&utm_source=website&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=WebStory060325_Tickets)

Join our journey: tickets for the first leg of our UEFA Conference League Round of 16 tie against AEK Larnaca, which will be played at Selhurst Park this coming Thursday (12th March, 20:00 GMT), are on general sale!

Our European journey continues on Thursday; tickets on sale for AEK Larnaca (H)!

Crystal Palace v AEK Larnaca (2026-03-12)

With just one strike of a ball, he wrote himself into the Eagles’ history. In a few months’ time it will be 16 years since Survival Sunday. The story of that day, of course, is well told. 

For Ambrose it was a defining moment, not just in his career, but Palace history. That day, the survival of the club was at stake. 

Then fast forward to this month, where the Eagles can make history – in facing off against Cypriot Cup holders AEK Larnaca – by reaching the last eight of a European competition.

The first leg is set to take place at Selhurst Park this **Thursday, 12th March (20:00 GMT)** – with **[tickets available here](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/EDP/Event/Index/979?position=1&utm_source=website&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=WebStory060325_Tickets)**, and **[Ambrose set to chat with guests](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/EDP/Hospitality/Index/980?pbCode=9)** in our newly-refurbish **Legends Restaurant** ahead of kick-off (Packages start at £234pp including VAT).

It gives me incredible pride, seeing where the team is now

“It gives me incredible pride, seeing where the team is now," Ambrose recently [told the Palace matchday programme](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/programme/dont-miss-your-latest-special-edition-european-matchday-programme/). “I think that’s why it now feels a long time ago. 

“If you’d have said to me after that day at Hillsborough that in 2026 Palace would be going abroad and trying to get into the latter stages of a European tournament – I’d have laughed at you!

"Because back then, although it was always a fantastic football club, winning trophies and playing in Europe… even playing in the Premier League seemed miles away. If you’re a young fan now, a whole generation might grow up with Palace only as a Premier League club, which is crazy. 

“I’ve done the majority of European games [at Selhurst Park] this season and the atmosphere is always tremendous for these nights.

“I think they’ve still got a fantastic opportunity to win another trophy this season.”

Explore Premium Experiences

Ambrose will later in the evening be attending to punditry duties, and speaking to him, you can hear his raw enthusiasm for the game hasn’t wavered.

Part of him would love to be out there against AEK, covering every blade of grass and trying to score the goal that takes the Eagles into the next round.

Ambrose did have an early taste of European football in his career both with Ipswich Town – his boyhood club – and then at Newcastle United. At just 19-years-old he scored his first goal for the latter in the UEFA Cup, a flying header against Dutch side NAC Breda in the First Round. 

It was the first step of a run to the semi-finals that season, meaning Ambrose knows all about the trials and tribulations of a European campaign.

"Sadly, I didn’t get to show the best of me at Newcastle,” Ambrose said. “It was probably a year too soon for me to go to a club like that. But to go on a European tour and play in every round was an incredible experience. 

"We went to Marseille in the semi-finals, and it was 0-0 after the first leg. I remember we did the line-up for penalties and I was going to take the third kick. In the end we lost 2-0 and it never came to it. 

“It was a big regret for that team, but our season was all on Europe. It’s never easy knowing you’ve got to go again in the league a few days later, I’m sure the Palace players are feeling that this season.”

From Newcastle, Ambrose’s next stop was across South London at Charlton, after falling out of favour under Manager Graeme Souness. 

“James Milner and I were both struggling. But he stuck it out that year, and now look at us today, I’m on talkSPORT and he’s still playing in the Premier League,” laughs Ambrose. “But at Charlton I was top scorer for a while and doing well. Then the last year was really difficult. 

“At that point I needed someone to reignite my career.” 

Enter Palace. Ambrose headed to Selhurst Park in July 2009, and despite a challenging first season, it became the best move of his career.

“I was confident in my own ability,” he reflects. “I knew obviously coming from Charlton I wouldn’t be the most favoured signing. 

"But I had the perfect gaffer for me at that time in Neil Warnock. I remember on the day I decided to sign, he had said ‘look, if you come to this football club, you’re playing every game. If you play poorly one game, you’ll still play the next game – you’re taking everything for me, every set-play.’ 

“It’s what I needed to hear. We did well that season, and obviously as the famous story goes, we took off for the Newcastle game thinking if we won, we would have a real chance of a play-off push. 

“Our flight landed and we were in administration. It became about survival.”

Yet that perilous situation brought the best out of Ambrose. He ended up, not only with that precious strike on Survival Sunday against Sheffield Wednesday, but with 20 goals in total over an extraordinary season. 

He continued to excel over the next few seasons – a certain Old Trafford thunderbolt was perhaps the highlight. But in 2012, with a year to go on his contract in South London, Palace reluctantly accepted a bid from Birmingham City for his services. 

It was a move that wouldn’t work out as first hoped for Ambrose. Transfers are always potential gambles and as the man himself is first to point out, hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

“In the end Palace got promoted that season and I was watching on. Obviously Kevin Phillips scored the famous penalty at Wembley and I was thinking that could have been me – I was the penalty taker when I was there! 

“It’s the one regret in my career, that I never got to play in the Premier League with Crystal Palace.

“That side of it is frustrating, but also I’m proud of what we were as a team back then. We were a team full of warriors. 

“It was a group of real leaders who stood up and were counted during a difficult period in the club’s history.”

Not only a great scorer of goals, Ambrose was also a scorer of great goals as that magical strike against Manchester United is testament to. 

In the current of era of football it’s often suggested that wingers and deeper midfielders are fearful of shooting from distance. It’s not always the smart decision if you want good stats at the end of the season. So are players like Ambrose, who would take chances on a regular basis, missed in 2026?

“I always wanted to score, it was in my nature to be forward thinking,” he says. “I think the supporters would back me up on that, probably because I wasn’t the most gifted defensively! 

“People who remember me playing would know I shot from everywhere, so it was no coincidence that I scored a few goals from long range.

“But I certainly missed a few from distance as well, don’t get me wrong!”

Working in Legends Restaurant got me used to being on the microphone!

Ambrose would retire after a second spell at Ipswich and a season at Colchester United. 

His post-playing career has been wide and varied, with podcasts and a YouTube channel dedicated to Lego building with the family. 

But punditry has become a big focus in recent years as well, which you might not have predicted when he still played. 

“I absolutely love it,” Ambrose says. “Some players who played with me wouldn’t have envisaged me going into the media. But then I don’t think certain players will become managers and then they do. 

“I did a little bit for Radio Suffolk on the Ipswich games, then did a bit around Palace games working in **[Legends Restaurant](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/hospitality/packages/hospitality-product-legends-restaurant/)** [where [Ambrose will once again be this Thursday](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/EDP/Hospitality/Index/980?pbCode=9)] which got me used to being on the microphone. It just kicked on from there and for the last six years I’ve really enjoyed it and managed to do different outlets. 

“I always say it’s as close to being in the changing room as anything I’ve had since playing football. With the producers, the tech guys, you’re sitting around talking football with your mates. 

“It’s a privilege and I know I’m in a privileged position, so I just want to ride the wave and enjoy it.”

With Palace playing for a place in the last eight of the UEFA Conference League, it’s a high-pressure situation. The hope is that someone steps up and delivers the big moment. 

Just like Ambrose did on so many occasions.

When Darren Ambrose scored the most important goal of his football career to help Crystal Palace to safety on the final day of 2009/10 against Sheffield Wednesday, his status as a South London legend was secured.

Video

Video

WATCH LIVE: Villa v Palace in Youth Cup quarter-finals

Our European journey continues on Thursday; tickets on sale for AEK Larnaca (H)!

Where it all began: Darren Ambrose on Palace's quest for European glory

Shop Palace Shirts

7Ismaïla
Sarr

Video

Video

WATCH LIVE: Villa v Palace in Youth Cup quarter-finals

Our European journey continues on Thursday; tickets on sale for AEK Larnaca (H)!

Where it all began: Darren Ambrose on Palace's quest for European glory

Shop Palace Shirts

7IsmaïlaSarr

7Ismaïla
Sarr