SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica – The mood is light among the Impact players and staff, who landed in Costa Rica on Saturday ahead of the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal tie against Alajuelense, this Tuesday night.
With no game this weekend, Montreal took the week to prepare and heal, and assistant coach Mauro Biello was pleased to tell reporters that Montreal are, a couple of long-term injuries aside, close to a clean bill of health.
“We had a lot of injuries, but I think everyone has recovered,” Biello said on Sunday afternoon. “If we’d had to play a game this weekend, it would have been difficult to manage the roster. We had this chance to get everyone back healthy and prepare this game.”
Those who have closely followed Montreal’s CCL run will remember halftime of the first leg at Alajuelense, when Dilly Duka came off with a left quad strain. Duka has been an important asset in the competition, scoring twice in Pachuca in the first leg of the quarterfinals and locking down Montreal's left flank with Donny Toia.
But Duka has been feeling good of late, taking part in a couple of training sessions. After two weeks off, Duka is ready to give 100 percent if he plays in Alajuela.
“I strained my quad a couple of days before the game against Alajuelense,” Duka said. “This is very important. This Champions League series is very important. I took time off. I don’t know if I’m going to play. I don’t know what the situation is. We haven’t even talked about that. But it’s just really important to get everyone healthy for these games. This is an important time.”
Injuries hit Montreal, but other factors as well. A weekend ago, the Impact had to make do without defenders Maxim Tissot and Laurent Ciman, called up by their respective national teams. Both have traveled to Costa Rica.
The usual suspects are thus likely to be in the starting backline, but other decisions, unrelated to injuries as well, loom elsewhere on the field.
Alajuelense’s gameplan, at 2-0 down, is predictable, and Montreal have to decide how they will line up to exploit space that will open up. Dominic Oduro has been in form on the right wing, but he raised a good tactical point on Sunday.
“Definitely, there will be space in behind if they try to come up front,” Oduro said. “I think, right now, the question is, will my speed be okay playing up top, or playing on the wing? It is going to be a factor, because of how I’m going to utilize it or how the team shape is going to utilize that speed. It’s something I will try to work on right now. Hopefully, we’ll find an answer to it, and we have to exploit that space. They will give us that space.”
