MONTREAL — And the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down…
That was certainly the story in Montreal during the Impact’s final practice ahead of the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final versus Toronto FC.
Wednesday programming alert: Watch Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final live on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet World. Coverage begins at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT. | TV schedule
One team will lift the Voyageurs Cup on Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium, and Montreal has the advantage after scoring a critical away goal in a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Toronto last week. The Impact might also have a bounce in their step after what coach Frank Klopas is calling the team’s best performance of the year when they beat MLS Eastern Conference leaders New England Revolution 2-0 on the weekend.
At the same time TFC might come in here feeling rather lethargic. Thunderstorms and torrential rain in Quebec delayed and cancelled many flights out of Toronto and into Montreal, including the TFC flight that was scheduled to leave in the early afternoon.
As it turns out, it didn’t get off the ground until mid-evening because of the lightning issue at the airport in Montreal. Yes, it was nasty. But despite the conditions, with thunder rolling in the distance, the Impact trained on Tuesday for a solid hour on the grass pitch at Stade Saputo, which is holding up rather well.
In fact Klopas told us after practice that the pitch is actually a little firm. Hard to believe after the monsoon that swept through here and seemed as though it would never end.
The Impact are in a relatively happy place these days. They have the advantage in the final and that win over the Revolution has everyone smiling around the training ground.
Klopas might have hit on something by switching to a 4-4-2 formation with both Jack McInerney and Marco Di Vaio playing up front together. It happened during the second half of the first leg with Montreal needing a goal. They got that goal through Justin Mapp, and then carried on from there to sweep to that all important league win against New England.
It’s still impossible to figure out what might happen here Wednesday night. Toronto is coming off a big come-from-behind win as well, defeating the Columbus Crew 3-2 on Saturday at BMO Field.
Penalties of course are a possibility. And that possibility was not lost on Klopas on this rainy Tuesday afternoon. They wrapped up training by practicing penalty kicks in the event it comes to that. There’s every possibility it will.
