MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact put its incredible Champions League run behind them and is now ready to kick off the 2015 edition of the Amway Canadian Championship against MLS rivals Toronto FC this Wednesday at 7:30pm EDT at Stade Saputo, in the first leg of the semifinal aggregate goal series (tickets: ticketmaster.ca).
As such, IMFC can’t afford a cup hangover in its first game following the Champions League finals if it hopes to defend its Canadian title.
“We have to shift our mindset now,” said head coach Frank Klopas. “I think we put a lot into that run that we had. We did everything we could to win that tournament. Now we have to shift our focus as we have a lot of points to make up and achieve the goals we set for this year, starting with the Canadian Cup. We have to look forward and it’s important to get off to a good start and play well to build confidence for the rest of the season.”
The Impact won’t completely close the door on its Champions League experience, having taken important lessons from the tournament.
“We created a good sense of group and belonging and we had a number of good results over the last few weeks, but there are some things we need to improve on,” explained defender Laurent Ciman. “We have to manage the second half of games a little better and start them the same way we come out to start the first half.”
TFC will be a good first test as, although the team has a meager 3-4-0 record over its first seven games, it has played all of its matches on the road, with Wednesday’s contest the eighth consecutive away game to start 2015.
A number of personnel changes in the offseason, including the additions of Italian international Sebastian Giovinco and American striker Jozy Altidore, both of whom have scored four goals so far this season, have paid dividends so far.
In addition, the club brought in French midfielder Benoit Cheyrou and Polish international Damien Perquis to join US international midfielder Michael Bradley on a much stronger TFC side.
“They are a very strong team and they made some big changes over the last year,” said striker Kenny Cooper, who scored eight goals against in 10 games played over his career. “They brought in some big time players and they are a very dangerous team, so I think we can expect a challenging game.”
The Impact will then play its next game at Stade Saputo this Saturday, at 4pm EDT, as it hosts the Portland Timbers in MLS regular season play (tickets: ticketmaster.ca).
