There’s certainly history there, but are Whitecaps and Impact still rivals?
It’s hard to call it a rivalry when you see each other only once a year in the regular season, but the embers of dislike still smoulder with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact.
The teams meet for the third time in an MLS season opener Sunday, when the Caps host the Impact at B.C. Place. While there is a long and storied history between the clubs from their USL days, the MLS meetings have been limited to one regular-season game a season and eight Canadian Championship meetings.
“To be honest? I don’t know (if there is a rivalry),” said Whitecaps centre back Kendall Waston. “I just try to play every game the same. The rivalry, basically, the fans are who make it. For us, the main thing is just to win.”
Montreal came into B.C. Place in 2016 and strolled out 3-2 winners after Ignacio Piatti torched the Caps for two goals and an assist.
The 2017 season saw turmoil in Montreal, an eighth-place finish resulting in the firing of coach Mauro Biello, with former Ligue 1 and Premier League manager Remi Garde stepping in.
In a mirror image to the Caps’ offseason, in terms of team philosophy, the team is younger and fitter, as vets like Hassoun Camara and Patrice Bernier retired, and Laurent Ciman was traded to expansion
side LAFC. The pre-season, in which the Impact went 3-1-1, was an exercise in conditioning and shoring up a defence that gave up the fifth-most goals in the league.
But injuries have blown up the Impact roster already. They come to Vancouver with just one healthy starting forward in Matteo Mancosu, and one fully fit centre back in Victor Cabrera. Zakaria Diallo, one of the team’s key off-season signings, suffered an injury in training Tuesday, and it appears he may have ruptured his Achilles, possibly ending his season.
The Caps are battling some injuries as well, with Aly Ghazal and Doneil Henry both expected to miss up to a month with hamstring injuries. Vancouver, too, has reshaped its roster. Coach Carl Robinson has emphasized fitness as well in his pre-season, aiming to remake his squad into a younger, faster, fitter team.
“It’s totally different (from last year), I’ll tell you that,” Robinson said. “The freshness within the group is what excites me. We’ve got some characters, some leaders both on and off the field.”