THE REDS AND THEIR RIVALS
It’s another freeway free-for-all with TFC and Montreal vying for the Canadian championship,
A native of Spain who has spent much of his career in Europe, Victor Vazquez has kept an eye on Major League Soccer since Toronto FC can courting a couple of years ago.
So while he played last year with Mexico’s Cruz Azul FC, he was aware of Toronto’s run to the MLS Cup final, including its two-game East final with Montreal, when the Reds won the two-leg series in extra time. Vazquez, though, said he didn’t truly understand the magnitude of the Toronto-Montreal rivalry before joining the Reds this spring.
“I didn’t know so much but now I know that it’s a derby,” Vazquez said. “A lot of players have told me but before I didn’t really know.”
Thanks to an unusual scheduling quirk, the Reds, who sit atop the MLS’s Eastern Conference, won’t come face to face with the Impact in league play until Aug. 27. But the Canadian Championship has brought them together again this week, with Toronto visiting Montreal on Wednesday in the first of two games for the Voyageurs Cup.
If Montreal comes out victorious at the end of the two-leg affair, it will force a play-in game to decide which Canadian team will advance to next season’s CONCACAF Champions League, an annual tournament between the best teams on the continent, the winner of which earns a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Normally, the winner of the Canadian Championship automatically qualifies for the tournament. But changes to the 2017-2018 iteration saw it begin next February rather than this summer, forcing a one-off qualifier between the 2016 and 2017 winners.
If the Reds are victorious, it nixes any need for the Aug. 9 match. They’re not even thinking about a play-in game.
But after close to 60,000 fans packed Olympic Stadium last fall, Toronto understands the environment waiting in Montreal.
“You hear things that I can’t share with y’all right now and that’s part of it, said veteran TFC defender Drew Moor, “but when you have a strong group of guys that are willing to go in and deal with atmospheres like that, you tilt the bar in your favour.”
Toronto is well aware that even if the result doesn’t go their way on Wednesday, what they do in front of net will still matter regardless.
The two away goals they scored in a 3-2 loss in Montreal last fall set them up for their playoff comeback, and a goal in Vancouver last summer was the deciding factor in their Canadian Championship win.
“The away goals are important,” Mississauga midfielder Raheem Edwards said. “They can win you games . . . every game, you’ve got to be prepared. If you’re not, one game and you could slip.”