Rayo down Strasbourg in Conference League to set up first European final

Q: How did Rayo Vallecano reach the UEFA Conference League final?

Rayo Vallecano reached the final by defeating Strasbourg 1-0 in the second leg, securing a 2-0 aggregate victory.

Q: Who scored the winning goal for Rayo Vallecano against Strasbourg?

The winning goal for Rayo Vallecano was scored by Brazilian forward Alemao.

Q: When is the UEFA Conference League final between Rayo Vallecano and Crystal Palace?

The UEFA Conference League final between Rayo Vallecano and Crystal Palace is scheduled for later this month.

Q: What challenges did Strasbourg face in their match against Rayo Vallecano?

Strasbourg faced challenges due to injuries to key players, including top scorer Joaquin Panichelli and captain Emmanuel Emegha.

Brazilian forward Alemao (L) celebrates with teammate Florian Lejeune nearby after scoring for Rayo Vallecano as they downed Strasbourg to reach the UEFA Conference League final (SEBASTIEN BOZON) (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/AFP) Rayo Vallecano are through to the first European final in their history after ending Strasbourg's hopes with a 1-0 win in France in the second leg of their UEFA Conference League last-four tie on Thursday, as a 2-0 aggregate success set up a decider against Crystal Palace later this month. Rayo travelled to France with a lead to defend after a solitary goal by Alemao last week in Madrid, and the Brazilian striker scored again late in the first half here as the visitors ran out deserving winners at the Stade de la Meinau. The team from the sprawling Vallecas neighbourhood in the south of the Spanish capital have never really been a regular presence in La Liga and their only European campaign before this season came in 2000/01 when under Juande Ramos they got to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. Now they are just one more win away from a first major trophy, although they will be underdogs against Palace in the final in Leipzig. Nevertheless, the team coached by Inigo Perez, a former assistant to Andoni Iraola before the latter moved to Bournemouth, were widely seen as the outsiders against Strasbourg and ultimately ran out worthy victors. Strasbourg, who belong to the same BlueCo consortium which owns , were targeting a first European trophy of their own and were hopeful of succeeding the London club as winners of the third-tier continental competition. However the team coached by Gary O'Neil -- who succeeded Liam Rosenior in the dugout in January when the latter moved to Stamford Bridge -- were handicapped by injuries to their two main striking options. Top scorer Joaquin Panichelli suffered a serious knee injury on international duty with Argentina in March and skipper -- who will join Chelsea next season -- was also ruled out. Without them, they were forced to play with former attacking midfielder as their attacking spearhead, but the Paraguayan is not a target man and also squandered a late penalty. Rayo worked tirelessly to stop Strasbourg's most influential players from dominating the game, especially Argentina midfielder Valentin Barco. And the Spaniards carried the greater attacking threat, having numerous chances to open the scoring on the night before doing so in the 42nd minute. When a ball was delivered into the home box, Florian Lejeune's attempt was parried by , but the on-loan Chelsea goalkeeper could do nothing to keep out Alemao's follow-up effort. That left Strasbourg needing to score twice without reply just to force extra time, but they never really looked like finding the net once, at least until injury time. That was when they were awarded a spot-kick for handball against Rayo captain Oscar Valentin, but Enciso's effort was saved by . The final whistle then sparked joyous celebrations in the corner of Rayo fans in the crowd of more than 31,000. and fell short in the Champions League, but Rayo's exploits mean the Spanish capital does have one European finalist this season. as/mw