​The Eagles head to Turkey after a bruising few days, including a 3-2 loss in Lyon, their first Europa League defeat this season, and a 5-0 thrashing by rivals Brighton, the lowest point so far for Sage as manager.

​The Frenchman has been under immense scrutiny this week, with his future at Selhurst Park seemingly in doubt, so as another vital few days begins for his side, Palace’s disappointment had to be put behind them.

“Sometimes we have to switch quickly, and it’s the case this time, " admitted Sage. “It was a defeat in a difficult context, and we have to forget this quickly because now we have to show our real face in a big atmosphere, especially here against a good team; that’s a good challenge for us.”

“We are aware of the quality of this team, especially how they attack, because they score a lot of goals and with a lot of energy.

“That’s why, as I said, it’s a big challenge for us, but it’s a good moment to have a big challenge.”

Sage has faced off against tomorrow’s opponents before, losing 1-0 as Lyon manager back in October 2024, with former Tottenham midfielder Gedson Fernandes scoring the winner. Despite this, he didn’t believe it was right to compare the teams from then to now.

“It was one year and a half ago, if I remember this game. I think we deserved to win this game, and they scored at the end of the game.”

“When you change all the team, it’s difficult to analyse because you change the team. At this time, it was Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the coach. He was fired maybe one or two games after that. When everything changes, it’s difficult to compare.”

“What I saw this year, it was a really good team, different from the one I played against before, but really a good one.”

One key factor why Sage’s job is at risk is because of how defensively poor Crystal Palace have been so far this season. The five-goal hammering at Brighton took their goals conceded tally to 17 in seven Premier League games, which remarkably is now a ⅓  towards their total in the last two league seasons (51).

Sage recognised that Palace may have to change their approach in order to become more solid defensively, but not at the cost of what he believed was some positive attacking output.