The Eagles’ 3-0 lead from the first leg, earned with an exemplary display at Selhurst Park last week, was matched with a performance of equally impressive grit and character, as Palace overcame first-half injuries to Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix – and a febrile atmosphere in Florence – to earn their progression on the night.
As a result, Crystal Palace became just the second team in history to eliminate Fiorentina from a European quarter-final – succeeding where 10 other teams have failed – and in turn teed up what promises to be a historic semi-final against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Glasner noted: “We expected Fiorentina to try everything and that's what they did.
“It was a great start into the game by us, a big chance after two minutes to take the lead. But then we got a little bit passive, Fiorentina got the penalty, they got the belief back.
“It was very difficult to manage today, not just for me but for the players, making two substitutions before half-time. That means we lost two windows for subs, that's why we took off JP Mateta at half-time – because we knew that he can't play the full game and we needed another window to be flexible in the second half.
“To be honest, their second goal was too early, a great finish from outside the box. But then credit to the players for how they coped with the situation.
“I think we didn't really play well in the attack, but we defended very well. And also we had to make two subs: a very important one central defender in Maxence Lacroix and Adam Wharton, a very important midfielder.
“All the players who came on did so well. As a team I think we defended very well and didn't give them a big chance after they took the lead, and over the two legs I think we deserved to qualify for the semi-finals.”
