Impact might have edge against weary Toronto FC
Defending champs coming off win in Champions League
Playing against a tired and perhaps distracted Toronto FC could be an advantage, but the Montreal Impact aren’t counting on it.
The Impact (0-2) might not get a better chance to upset the defending Major League Soccer champions than in their home opener Saturday afternoon at Olympic Stadium (3 p.m., TSN4, CTV, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio).
Toronto (0-1) is coming off a thrilling win over Tigres in the CONCACAF Champions League in a two-game quarter-final that ended Tuesday in Mexico. Between the travel, wear and tear of a hard-fought series and emotional high of winning, the Reds may be vulnerable heading back to league play on artificial turf in the home of their biggest rival.
“We did that ourselves three years ago,” Impact midfielder Ignacio Piatti said this week, recalling the Impact’s 2015 run to the Champions League final. “The travelling and everything is difficult.
“But we’re thinking about our team because if we do the job right we can win at home. We’re not thinking about Toronto — who’s injured or who’s coming or who’s playing. We’re only thinking about ourselves. We’ve worked a lot this week on the things that didn’t go well the last games and that we need to improve. We’ll be ready for Saturday.”
There are question marks regarding TFC defenders Justin Morrow and Chris Mavinga, who left Tuesday’s game early.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney said Mavinga, who may have a sports hernia, has made the most progress of the two while Morrow is day-to-day with a calf issue. Spanish playmaker Victor Vazquez is recovering from a back problem that has limited his play, so Vanney may not use him on artificial turf.
Injuries to defender Zakaria Diallo and striker Anthony JacksonHamel have left Montreal thin at both ends of the pitch. But the team’s collective play looks to be improving under new coach Rémi Garde.
It will be Garde’s first taste of the Montreal-Toronto rivalry, which ramped up when TFC won the two-legged 2016 Eastern Conference final in extra time.
“I’m not seeing the situation as particularly an advantage,” the former Olympique Lyonnais boss said. “When you play an important game with very high emotion in mid-week, and then you travel away in the league, maybe sometimes it can be difficult.”