Toronto FC, Montreal Impact to face off in MLS is Back Tournament

The 401 Derby will shift about 2,000 kilometres south when the ‘MLS is Back Tournament’ kicks off next month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

The draw for the tournament was held on Thursday and Canadian MLS fans couldn’t have asked for a better scenario.

The Montreal Impact drew into the same Eastern Conference group – Group C – as top seed Toronto FC (the Reds were given a top seed based on qualifying for last season’s MLS Cup Final). Also drawn into Group C were the New England Revolution and D.C. United. Each team will face off against the other three.

The Toronto-montreal match, whenever it is scheduled, will take on an almost surreal quality as spectators aren’t allowed to attend games at the tournament. Passions generally run high in 401 Derby matches, whether held at BMO Field in Toronto or Saputo Stadium in Montreal.

“Montreal makes for an exciting game and something for the fans to be excited about,” said Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney, who celebrated his 46th birthday on Thursday. “I think all the games are going to take just a little bit of an adjustment not having fans … The players are going to have to dig deep and push each other through things and battle without having the supporters and fans behind you.”

“It’s a tough group,” Vanney added, when asked about the draw overall. “Three of our four teams (in Group C) are coming from the north so we’ll all have to deal with the heat and humidity and I don’t think any of the three of us will be overly used to it. So I think that’s maybe something that’s good vs. having a team from the south that’s really used to the heat and humidity down there.”

The group stage matches which will count toward the overall 2020 regular season standings (win = 3 points, draw = 1 point, loss = 0 points). The top two finishers in each group along with the four best third-place teams will move on to the Knockout stage which kicks off with the Round of 16. The winner of the ‘MLS is Back Tournament earns a 2021 Concacaf Champions League spot. MLS plans to continue playing matches following the tournament, in each team’s home cities. For the tournament, all teams will stay at one of the many hotels on the Disney property and undergo extensive medical testing. Teams will begin arriving in Florida in two weeks, though TFC president Bill Manning said the Reds won’t arrive in Florida until early July.