ALAJUELA, Costa Rica – Following a 2-0 win in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals, the Montreal Impact heads to Costa Rica to play the decisive match of the aggregate goal series against Alajuelense on Tuesday at 10pm, at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, in Alajuela (TVA Sports, Sportsnet, TSN Radio 690).
The club invites supporters to a special viewing party at the Peel Pub (1196 Peel Street, Montreal) with prizes to be won for those in attendance. (LINK)
The Bleu-blanc-noir could become the first Canadian club ever to play in the finals of the tournament and just the second MLS club to ever make a championship series appearance after Real Salt Lake in 2011.
However, the team knows that there is still plenty of work to be done in a difficult environment before looking that far ahead.
“This game is going to be huge,” said Impact defender Bakary Soumare. “I’ve played in Africa for the national team in very hostile areas, so I know what to expect from their fans. We are going there to get a result and implement our game plan. We have to be disciplined and make sure that we don’t sit on our two goal lead, but to push to try and score a goal. We are confident in our abilities and if we play the way we have so far in the tournament, we will be fine.”
Prior to losing 3-1 this past weekend to Cartaginés, Alajuelense had been in good form recently, having gone unbeaten over the entire month of March in league play (2-0-3); good for fourth spot in the standings with 26 points (7-4-5).
“This is a very dynamic team and we saw that when they scored five goals against D.C. United at home in Champions League,” said Impact assistant coach Mauro Biello. “They are a team that pushes a lot of players forward and we have to be ready for that, especially now that they are behind and need to push the game. They’ve made some adjustments over recent weeks and are in good form recently and we know they’ll come out and try to score an early goal. We have to be solid, both mentally and defensively.”
Much of LDA’s success has come off the feet of Jonathan McDonald (eight goals) and Johan Venegas (seven goals), who sit in second and third place respectively in 2015 Verano league scoring, combining for more than half of the teams total goals scored in league play (29).
The Impact, on the other hand, still only has three league games under its belts, but has showed well defensively in all three, allowing just three goals in MLS play.
Ignacio Piatti is rounding into form, having scored two goals in his last two games played across all competitions – a bullet under the crossbar in the first game against LDA and a second off of a PK in league play against Orlando on March 28.
The club announced that Cameron Porter underwent successful knee surgery last week, but forward Jack McInerney was able to step in against Orlando and score his first goal of the season, the league’s Goal of the Week winner.
Eric Alexander and Eric Kronberg (cup-tied) will join Cameron Porter and Justin Mapp (elbow surgery) on the sidelines. As a result, the club acquired the services of Canadian goalkeeper John Smits, on loan from FC Edmonton (NASL), to serve as backup to Evan Bush for the Champions League game.
Head coach Frank Klopas will be back on the sidelines Tuesday night after serving a suspension in the first game.
The Impact will head directly to Houston on Wednesday in preparation for its next MLS regular season game against the Dynamo on Saturday, April 11, at 8:30pm ET (TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690). The following weekend, the Impact will host the Chicago Fire in the Stade Saputo opener at 3pm. Tickets are available via ticketmaster.ca.
