Pierre Sage used a BBC interview this week to spell out a hierarchy that top-flight managers rarely put on tape. Palace’s European run, Sage said, ranks above their Premier League standing in the season’s goals.

That is a bold admission from a mid-table club. English clubs almost always default to the stock line that the league is sacrosanct and Europe is a welcome extra. Sage is saying the opposite, with his European campaign still only one match old.

Over the summer the message was different.

“We want to do better in the Premier League because it’s the main objective for the club,” Sage told Palace TV in early August, before adding that his side also had to “make a good journey” in the Europa League.

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The BBC remarks move the balance. The league figures explain why: Palace have won once in five, drawn once, and lost three, conceding 11 goals on the way to 15th place.

Europa League debut set the tone

Palace are in the Europa League as reigning Conference League champions. They opened the group stage with a 4-0 home win over Lech Poznań on September 17, goals coming from Yéremy Pino, Chris Richards, Jørgen Strand Larsen and Eddie Nketiah.

Ahead of that opener, Sage framed the European night in terms of nerve.

“If you don’t have character, you cannot reply yes,” he said when asked at a Crystal Palace training-ground press conference whether his side could win the trophy.

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From Glasner to Sage, with Lyon on the way

Sage inherited this project from Oliver Glasner, whose side lifted Palace’s first-ever European trophy with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig last May. The 47-year-old was appointed on a three-year deal in June after taking RC Lens to a first Coupe de France and Champions League qualification.

Glasner returns to Selhurst Park with Nottingham Forest on October 11. Chairman Steve Parish has already asked Palace fans to make it loud.

“I really hope he gets a fantastic reception. I would be mortified if he gets anything other than the roof blown off,” he said this week.

Four days later Palace fly to Lyon, the Ligue 1 club that dismissed Sage in January 2025. A trip to Brighton follows on October 18, then a Europa League night at Beşiktaş on October 22.

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