MONTREAL, Quebec – In collaboration with the Ligue de football professionnel (France), the Montreal Impact announced on Wednesday the presentation of a friendly match versus Olympique Lyonnais, a division 1 club from France, on Tuesday, July 24 at 7:3pm ET, at Stade Saputo.
Lyon, winner of this year's French Cup, will be in North America to face Montpellier Hérault SC, France Champion, on July 28, at Red Bull Arena, to play the Champions Trophy.
“We are very pleased to be hosting in Montreal a prestigious club like Olympique Lyonnais,” said Montreal Impact president Joey Saputo. “We are pleased to further our relationship with France’s Ligue 1 and grow our relationship across the Atlantic. This game is a great example. It is important for us to organize international matches like we’ve done in the past. We want to continue to build Montreal as an important market in North America for international games.”
“Olympique Lyonnais is very happy to be playing a friendly against the most francophone team in Major League Soccer: the Montreal Impact,” declared the president of Olympique Lyonnais Jean-Michel Aulas. “With this game, we hope to build a strong relationship with our friends at the Impact, a club that is having a good inaugural season in MLS and who has an incredible fan base.”
Olympique Lyonnais, one of French's top clubs
Founded in 1950, Olympique Lyonnais is one of the most successful clubs in France, having won seven consecutive titles, a national record, from 2001-2002 to 2007-2008.
The club finished the 2011-2012 season in fourth place in Ligue 1, and added a fifth French Cup by beating Quevilly 1-0, on April 28 at the Stade de France.
Olympique Lyonnais has on its roster the likes of Hugo Lloris, starting goalkeeper and captain of the French National Team, French midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, as well as Argentine forward Lisandro López, who scored 25 goals last season, including 16 in the league. The roster also includes Brazilian defender Cris, who serves as the team’s captain, Brazilian midfielder Michel Bastos and French forwards Jimmy Briand and Bafétimbi Gomis, who finished last season as the league’s sixth best scorer with 14 goals.
Montreal established a new record for the Ligue de Football Professionnel back on July 25, 2009, when 34,068 spectators attended the Champions Trophy matchup at Olympic Stadium.
Over the years, the Impact has organized successful friendly games against River Plate (Argentina), Bordeaux (France), Fiorentina (Italy) and AC Milan (Italy).
For tickets
Impact season ticket holders have access to a priority ticket sale, starting on Friday, May 25, at 10am by calling the club at 514-328-3668, or at the Stade Saputo ticket office.
The club’s Facebook fans will also be privy to an advanced sale, before the general public, starting on Monday, May 28, at 10am, by calling the club's offices.
The sale to the general public will then begin on May 30 at 10am via the Admission Network (1-855-790-1245 / admission.com).
Prices for the tickets go from $20 and $85 (taxes included, plus service fees), the same prices as for Impact individual regular season tickets. Group packages will also be available by contacting the club.
About the Impact
The Montreal Impact is the city’s professional soccer team. The club came to be in 1993 and now has four teams under its umbrella (pros, Under-21, Under-18 and Under-16), as well as its own sport-etudes program. In second division, the club has won three playoff championships (1994, 2004 and 2009), five regular season titles (1995, 1996, 1997, 2005 and 2006), one Canadian Nutrilite Championship (2008) and took part in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. The Impact has since joined the most prestigious league in North America: Major League Soccer. The Impact played its first five games at Olympic Stadium, having twice played in front of crowds of over 58,000.
Stade Saputo, the Impact’s home field since 2008, will be expanded to seat 20,341 seats and will host its first game on June 16, versus the Seattle Sounders FC.
