Pierre Sage demands character as Crystal Palace begin historic Europa League campaign

Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage has challenged his players to show the character required to compete at European level as the Eagles prepare for their first UEFA Europa League campaign.

Palace begin against Polish champions Lech Poznań looking for an immediate response after their 3-2 Premier League defeat to Ipswich Town.

Sage’s side did show resilience in that match, recovering to 2-2 through Jørgen Strand Larsen with 15 minutes remaining before eventually losing.

For Sage, that mentality will be essential if Palace want to establish themselves as a high-level European team.

Asked whether character becomes even more important against stronger European opposition, Sage described it as the foundation of Palace’s ambitions.

“The beginning of everything for me. When they ask the question, ‘Are you ambitious in this European Cup? Could you win it?’ If you don’t have character, you cannot reply yes,” Sage said.

“I think to be a high-level team as we are, we need people with character.

“That’s why we choose the players in this way, and we manage it daily because if you want to compete, you need this kind of thing.”

Palace will face a Lech side that has already demonstrated its attacking threat this season.

The Polish champions have scored 12 goals across seven league matches and were prolific during Europa League qualifying, beating Klaksvik 6-0 on aggregate before recording a 9-2 aggregate victory over Thun.

That could test a Palace defence which has conceded 12 goals in five matches across all competitions.

Sage acknowledged Palace must improve defensively, particularly when opponents attack from wide areas.

“We struggled defensively,” he explained. “We managed some things, but we need to improve other things now.”

The Palace manager specifically identified stopping crosses and defending the penalty area as priorities after his team conceded five Premier League goals from those situations.

“We have to prevent the crosses and defend the box better, because we’ve conceded five goals like this from the beginning of the season in the Premier League,” Sage added.

Palace have worked on those weaknesses ahead of their European opener, although Sage admitted recognising a tactical problem and successfully correcting it during matches are two different things.

There is some encouraging injury news ahead of the match, with Ismaïla Sarr potentially returning to the squad.

The Senegal international has not featured this season because of a groin problem. He was also heavily linked with Liverpool during the summer transfer window but remained at Selhurst Park.

Sarr has now returned to team training and could be involved against Lech.

“He could be in the team tomorrow because he started to train with us this week,” Sage confirmed.

The Palace boss believes the uncertainty surrounding Sarr is now behind him, leaving the forward with an opportunity to become an important part of his plans again.

Crystal Palace now turn their attention to their historic Europa League opener against Lech Poznań.

Sage will be looking for both a response to the Ipswich defeat and evidence that the defensive work carried out in training is transferring onto the pitch. Sarr’s potential return would also provide an important attacking option as Palace begin their European campaign.