Palace bid to move final Premier League fixture 'didn't work'
[Getty Images] Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner says the Premier League has rejected a club request for his side's final fixture of the season to be moved forward by 24 hours. Following confirmation of Arsenal 's Premier League title win on Tuesday, Palace asked if Sunday's game could be moved to Saturday on the grounds that the champions had already been decided. The Eagles are set to face Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig on Wednesday.
However, their opponents will round off their La Liga fixtures on Saturday night, meaning they will have an extra day to prepare for the European showpiece. Traditionally, all 10 matches kick off simultaneously on the final day of the Premier League season. This is to avoid any club gaining an advantage on the teams they are in direct competition with.
"We tried to move the game to Saturday because it would have given us one more day before Wednesday," said Glasner. "I couldn't ask them last week. We waited until Wednesday morning, after [the result of] Tuesday night's game.
"We were thinking about it before then, but we didn't want to call the Premier League and say, 'hey, move the game' when they didn't know if the title race was going to be decided on the last matchday. "It didn't work - short answer. I didn't ask why, they just told me it doesn't work.
There are contractual issues and TV rights [I think]. "We accepted the demotion to the Conference League and we accepted playing on Sunday. This season, we've had less preparation than our opposition for 50 out of 60 games.