It’s now or never for Impact at MLS is Back Tournament
The Impact no longer controls its own destiny, but will at least be playing for something when it hits the pitch late Tuesday night at the MLS is Back Tournament.
Montreal (0-2) will be seeking its first group-stage victory when it meets D.C. United (0-0-2) at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Florida (10:30 p.m., TSN1, TSN4, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690).
While the Impact won’t finish first or second in Group C, it could still be one of the four third-place clubs advancing to the knockout stage, beginning Saturday. But the Impact must defeat United and hope to score enough goals, since goal differential will break all deadlocks. Montreal is minus-2 in that department.
The task won’t be easy.
“I still think we have a good chance of advancing, just with how the other groups are going,” Canadian Shamit Shome said Monday afternoon. “I think if we get three points (a victory) we’ll be in a good position to make it to the next round. We’re preparing to ... win that game and put ourselves in the best position to make it to the next round.
“We understand the first two games haven’t gone the way we wanted,” the Impact midfielder added. “We know within those games we’ve done some good things. If we can put those pieces together, we can get a good performance. We’re confident we can win against D.C. and hopefully advance to the next round.”
With the 24 teams divided into six groups, only eight will be eliminated, and of the six third-place clubs, four will advance. Montreal’s one of six teams still without a point, but would overtake United with a win. That’s the first prerequisite. And each of the group-stage games counts in the regular-season standings.
“Everything can still be (achieved) against D.C.,” Repentigny native Samuel Piette said on Sunday. “If we take the positives from what we did against Toronto, I think we can give ourselves a good chance of winning.
“You have to play as if it’s your last game. If we lose, it’s possible that it will be.”
Heading into this competition following a four-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLS commissioner Don Garber predicted the regular season would commence again once the teams returned from Florida. He said the season could extend into December and was hopeful clubs would play in their own markets.
But last Saturday, the federal government denied baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays permission to play 30 home games at the Rogers Centre. With only three MLS teams based in Canada, it seems highly unlikely the Quebec government will allow the Impact to play at Saputo Stadium. But that’s a problem for another day.
“Whatever happens, we’re going all out,” Impact manager Thierry Henry said Sunday.
Throughout this competition, the Impact has been behind the eight ball, Henry said. Indeed, Montreal never had the lead in either of its two games, making it difficult to control the match.
“Before the pandemic, we were a team that was fighting and on the front foot,” Piette said. “We wanted to control the game. We want to be a team that imposes the rhythm, a team that’s on the front foot, aggressive, with a lot of intensity in everything we do.”
While D.C. United also has yet to win, it has garnered two points from two draws. But like Montreal, D.C. United has never led and could easily be in a similar 0-2 hole.