First home game for Bleu-blanc-noir in 2018
MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact will play its first home game this Saturday at 3pm, at Olympic Stadium, against its biggest rival, Toronto FC. Excellent tickets are still available on impactmontreal.com.
“We’re facing a team that is used to important games,” said head coach Rémi Garde. “This has its importance in the context of a derby. On our end, we’ve progressed. We started at a point where there was a lot of uncertainty. We’ve worked hard and the players responded well. We’re expecting a difficult game, but we will do everything we can to come out on top in this game.”
The Impact suggests using public transportation and arriving early. The indoor corridor linking the Pie-IX metro station to the stadium will be closed, and security checkpoints will be located outside, near the esplanade. The same bag policy as Stade Saputo will be enforced. Also, numerous activities will be offered before the game, as soon as Olympic Stadium opens its doors, at 1pm.
Rivalry continues: 2018 edition
For the first time this year, the Bleu-blanc-noir and the Reds will cross swords. This intense rivalry ignites bouts of passion all over North America, but especially on either side of the Ottawa River.
At home, across all competitions, the Impact has a record of eight wins, four losses and four draws against TFC, scoring 24 goals in the process.
Good performances on the road
The Impact will have its heart set on getting a positive result from this game, after suffering two defeats to start the season, although the team deserved a better outcome from its games in Vancouver and Columbus.
With a goal and an assist last game, Nacho Piatti has hit the ground running to start the season, finding success in its early stages. Against Toronto, the Argentine number 10 has accumulated six goals and four assists in seven regular season games.
“Toronto proved last year that they have a good team,” underlined Piatti. “This is a huge home game for us. We know that if we work well on our end, we can win the game. We worked hard this week on things we needed to improve. We’re ready for Saturday.”
Toronto back from Mexico
Toronto also has no points as of yet, having lost its only MLS game thus far 2-0 against the Columbus Crew SC, on March 3 at BMO Field. However, the Reds advanced to the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions League, Tuesday night in Monterrey, Mexico, eliminating Tigres UANL thanks to the away goal rule.
Upcoming games
After a week without a game because of the international break, the Montreal Impact will head to the West coast to face the Seattle Sounders FC, on Saturday, March 31 at 10pm (TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690). The Bleu-blanc-noir will then travel to Boston for its only Friday game of the season to take on the New England Revolution, on April 6 at 7:30pm (TVA Sports, TSN, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690).
