Reds, Impact renew rivalry in Canadian Championship

Emotions run deep when Toronto FC plays in Montreal, so perhaps it’s not surprising that midfielder Jonathan Osorio was a little unsettled at finding himself in the Impact dressing room last week.

Osorio was with Canada for an international friendly against Curacao and the home side got the Montreal locker-room. “It was weird for me,” said Osorio. The 25-year-old midfielder from Brampton, Ont., will be back at Saputo Stadium, this time in the visitors’ room, on Wednesday when Toronto meets Montreal in the first leg of the Canadian Championship final.

Toronto is 3-8-3 all-time in Montreal in MLS regular-season, playoff and Canadian Championship play since the Impact entered the league in 2012. There is no love lost between the two, a rivalry that has been ratcheted up of late thanks to the playoffs.

“I always think rivalries grow whenever the importance of the games grow,” said Toronto coach Greg Vanney.

In 2015, Montreal humiliated visiting Toronto 3-0 to spoil TFC’s first post-season appearance. That same year, the Impact bundled TFC out of the Canadian Championship in the semifinals on the away-goals rule.

Toronto got its revenge in 2016, dispatching Montreal 7-5 on aggregate in a wild and woolly Eastern Conference final that saw the Impact win 3-2 at Olympic Stadium before TFC rallied for a 5-2 victory at BMO Field.

The two teams have not played since, with three regular-season games to follow the Canadian final.

“I imagine we’ll pick up right where we left off,” said veteran defender Drew Moor.