PREVIEW – For already the third time in this very strange year 2020, Montreal Impact prepare for what feels like the first game of the new regular season. After an encouraging start in February and an awful tournament in Orlando, Thierry Henry’s team will try to beat Marc Dos Santos’ Vancouver Whitecaps at Stade Saputo. It will be the firs profesionnal sport event in Canada since March with fans present.
Supporters’ Impact: Montreal Impact Prepare for First Sporting Event With Fans in Canada Since March
This first phase of the new MLS regular season will be very special for Canadian teams. The team who will finish this 6 matches phase with the most points will be awarded a spot for the Canadian Championship final. A chance to qualify for the next Concacaf Champions League is on the line.
Vancouver debuted this phase very badly, losing two times to Toronto at BMO Field. So, they will try to break that streak against a Montreal team that will probably be less physically prepared to the high level intensity, as it is going to be their first match since MLS is Back Tournament.
On the other hand though, Henry said last Tuesday that his team is much more fit and physically ready than they were in Orlando, which is normal as preparing a game at home in your own training center is always preferred.
On the field, it’s hard to say which version of the Impact we’ll see: The proactive one that won 1-0 against D.C. United and that had really interesting plays, or the poor one that was teared apart by Orlando City?
That will depend very much on Montreal’s capacity to move the ball across the field with more fluidity and less technical issues than they habitually do.
For that, the midfielders are the key element, and Montreal’s fans will expect better performances from the Algerian Designated Player Saphir Taider and the truly talented Bojan whose performances were nowhere near what we expect from players of their quality since the beginning of the season.
