Canadian title waits for Toronto, Montreal
TFC and Impact meeting at BMO Field with scores to settle and bragging rights to claim
Look down. Look way down in the standings.
Look down as far as you can in the Eastern Conference.
There rests the Montreal Impact, a last-place club sitting behind lowly D.C. United on goal differential.
Toronto FC’s bitter rival enters Tuesday’s Canadian Championship final desperate to turn its season around.
“Things aren’t going as smoothly as they’d like between results and injuries and things like that,” TFC head coach Greg Vanney said. “This kind of championship game becomes a pivotal moment.”
There’s no question the Impact have underperformed following an appearance in last year’s Eastern Conference championship. They’ve lost a key player to a season-ending injury and felt aggrieved last week after TFC fought them to a 1-1 draw at Saputo Stadium.
“This could be one of those results that makes the season feel a lot longer,” Vanney added.
“Last year we were able to snatch a result at the end from Vancouver and I think they had a hard time recovering from that.”
Perhaps the Impact haven’t yet recovered from last year’s playoff loss, a series that caused hatred to fester on and off the pitch.
At the start of last week’s opening leg, Impact fans unveiled a cheap-looking banner that read “F--- Toronto” across it.
It didn’t take long for TFC to return the sentiment. Jozy Altidore stepped past an injured Daniel Lovitz minutes later to score the equalizer.
The Impact cried foul. Toronto wouldn’t admit to any wrongdoing. Welcome to one of Major League Soccer’s top rivalries.
“It’s a huge game,” Michael Bradley told reporters. “You can’t overstate how big a game it is against Montreal.
“It’s a chance to win a trophy and be the best Canadian team and secure our spot in Champions League next year. It’s a really big night. We hear it’s going to be a great crowd. It’s exciting.”
TFC will look to feed off that energy to reverse the effects of their hellish schedule.
A bizarre Saturday-Wednesday-Friday-Tuesday run of games means Toronto FC is set for a fourth match in 12 days.
“It’s fun to play games that are meaningful, especially ones that are for championships,” Vanney said.
“I think we’re still recovering physically from the last two games a little bit, but we have 24 hours to regroup and get ready to go. My sense is everyone will be very excited to play in front of our home fans and for another trophy.”
Look for Toronto to push hard for an early tally. Vanney hinted Monday his side has no plans to sit back and protect its first-leg lead (away goals serve as a tiebreaker).
“If we do things the right way with the right amount of attention and urgency, then we give ourselves the best chance to win,” Vanney said.
“We’re going to play this game like we have to win this game and in a smart way with the right amount of urgency.”
Thank United States bench boss Bruce Arena for granting TFC something of a reprieve. Arena selected Justin Morrow, who will miss Tuesday’s match, as a part of his Gold Cup squad but allowed veterans Altidore and Bradley to remain with their club team.
“It’s massive,” Vanney said. “We appreciated U.S. Soccer’s understanding of the value to those guys to our team.
“(Arena) is taking the time to look at some other players who maybe don’t play as regularly. It’s mutually beneficial, as these situations usually are.”
Expect Bradley to be inserted back into Toronto’s lineup for arguably the biggest match so far this season.
It’s unclear if Altidore will start for the third time in less than a full week given Toronto is required to start three Canadians.
“The good news is we are, by and large, healthy,” Vanney said. “We’ve got a full complement of guys who can step in.
“We can’t judge where guys are today. It’s a matter of where we think they’ll be tomorrow, heading into the game.”
Toronto has made all the right decisions so far this season. A few more good choices could see Montreal’s campaign go from bad to worse — not that the Impact can drop any further in the standings.