Jean-Philippe Mateta decides Conference League final, Milan fans explode on social media
Crystal Palace continues to rewrite its history and a year after the first trophy in the club’s history, the FA Cup, won the 2026-2027 Conference League at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, beating Rayo Vallecano in the final. Scoring the decisive goal, at 51′, was Jean-Philippe Mateta, after a short clearance by Batalla on Wharton’s first shot. The French striker was the quickest to pounce on the ball and push it into the net, triggering a roar from the Eagles’ fans.
Mateta’s goal is one that, inevitably, opens another wound in an AC Milan side already shaken by its failure to qualify for the next Champions League. The Frenchman’s name is not at all new, in fact, to the Rossoneri circles: in January, the 1997-class striker was very close to a transfer to AC Milan itself, but at the last moment everything was blown: additional medical examinations had highlighted doubts about the condition of his knee, prompting the Rossoneri club to backtrack and fall back on Niclas Füllkrug.
In retrospect, the choice turned out to be counterproductive: while it is true that Mateta did indeed sit out the entire month of February to recover from injury, it is also true that he scored six goals after returning, the last of which was decisive in adding another trophy to the Eagles’ trophy case. Füllkrug, by contrast, has scored on only one occasion in his 20 appearances with the Rossoneri. The Frenchman will be at the 2026 World Cup, summoned by Didier Deschamps; the German, on the other hand, will watch the rainbow review from home.
Mateta, after what happened in January, had always dismissed the idea of a serious problem, claiming that the specialists consulted so far had assured him that he could recover in no time. The goal he scored in Leipzig is the definition of reaction, presence and the ability to be decisive: characteristics often lacking in Milan’s strikers, especially in the final part of the season.
On social media, after the Conference League final, the anger of the Rossoneri fans again exploded. Many argue that it was worth waiting for him, even at the cost of keeping him down for a month, in order to have a level striker in the last part of the season, the one in which the offensive department was most lacking. However, there are also those who defend the club’s choice: rarely does a club invest in a player destined to stay in the pits for weeks, and the prudence, some fans argue, was understandable in light of the medical doubts.
What is certain is that the season has delivered its verdict: Mateta has lifted another trophy as a star player, Milan is still eating its hands after what happened in the last few days of the championship, which cost the team of now former Rossoneri coach Massimiliano Allegri participation in the next Champions League.
