The 23-year-old winger has, by his own admission, taken times to adapt to the rigours of English league football, but has particularly impressed for Palace in their first-ever continental campaign – and has 10 goal contributions (five goals and five assists) in all competitions to his name.
Pino came close to adding another in Thursday evening’s UEFA Conference League semi-final win over Shakhtar Donetsk, only to be denied the opening goal – after providing an excellent finish to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s flick-on – by a tight VAR offside call.
The Spaniard told NewsShopper after the game: “I’m feeling very happy – in the end, we have reached another final!”
“This team has done incredible things over these past two seasons, and the work we have been doing this year has been demonstrated. We had to hang in there, but in the end, it was fine.”
