By IVES GALARCEP
The 2015 CONCACAF Champions League Final is ready to kick off, and Olympic Stadium will be rocking as the Montreal Impact take on Club America (8pm, Fox Sports 2).
The Impact salvaged a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Estadio Azteca, and can secure an improbably Champions League title with a win tonight at home (or a 0-0 draw). Club America comes in with plenty of firepower, but has been struggling in recent weeks, and could be vulnerable.
Join SBI as we provide live commentary from Montreal on all the action. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Tonight’s SBI Live Commentary is after the jump):
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How ’bout those concacaf medal girls…dayum
Its scary how poor the quality of CCL is when a garbage side like Montreal made it to the final. They wont win a single point in any group in Europe’s Champions League, and will be relegated from La Liga or the Premier League before Christmas.
Montreal qualified for the Champions League?! O_o
Wot….>_>
The tournament has a lot of problems. The only reason Montreal is in the tournament is down to a berth for the “Canadian Championship”, a lame, highly contrived 5-team tournament sponsored by Amway (so you know it’s “credible”). I’d rather see this thing somehow bundled into the US Open Cup (if there must be berths for cup winners at all). For next year’s edition, the qualification will be given to the top Canadian MLS finisher due to scheduling conflicts with the Women’s WC. Really begs the question why there is a Canadian qualifier at all (though it must be said that Montreal’s fans were great, and a far better credit to MLS than many of the American teams we have seen in the knockout rounds in some recent editions).
But ultimately, it would not have been a good look for soccer in our region to have the last-place MLS team go get spanked by RM or Bayern or Barca at the Club World Cup.
“Jurgen Klinsmann will be happy w/Ventura Alvarado’s game tonight. The 21-year-old will join Jose Torres as 2nd USMNT player to win CCL final”
Ives, he was terrible, even the CA couch asked him what was wrong with him. Wouldn’t surprised if he shipped out at the end of the season.
Seriously, it was a big match perhaps but it was still Montreal.
and Jack Mac just scored
Alvarado has been mediocre at best the whole season, America as a whole isn’t doing well defensively and they are now 7th in Liga MX because of that, the only reason why Ventura gets hype is because the media keeps saying that he “choose” the US when he really was just ignored by Mexico.
and now this has fully turned into what we expected
Even if that last goal was waived, it’s pretty sad to see how easy it is for America to get goals against Montreal. In USMNT news, Alvarado looks solid here!
…America just scored again, didn’t they?
Not saying much, how many MLS center backs looked solid against Montreal last year? .
Pretty much this, in fact Ventura looked terrible in this game, just like in the semi final game.
He hasn’t had much to do. Thought I was implying that. Guess not.
America is so much better they have the luxury of only playing the last 45 minutes out of 180.
I had a feeling something like this would happen. I think MLS/Canada should skip out next year and set their priorities. I hope the message goes out to Don to keep increasing the salary cap. Focus on the quality.
It’s the Reo Coker show for America. That’s the position that I used to play (right back), so I know what it feels like to get burned like that. Too bad it is happening in the biggest game for them, and happening over and over.
Yeah. It’s at the point where I actually feel personally sorry for him. Guy got clowned more times than I could count in that second half.
And i used to think he was an underrated player in the EPL. In this series we have seen why he is now playing in MLS instead of the EPL.
Taking the weekend off from MLS play didn’t make up for lack of quality/depth. Well, better than getting throttled by Real Madrid or Barcelona in December, I guess.
Yeah. Must be said…. I’m not sure what kind of “step forward” it really would’ve been for American soccer to send a Canadian team who can’t defend and is consistently bottom of the MLS table to the Club World Cup.
What did Montreal expect with the pressure America has been putting on them all game long?
When you sit back the whole game and hope to score on the counter your going to get punished before long.
Once America figured out they could just hack players down aren’t weren’t going to get sent off it was over.
And why would that be the case? surely refs are impartial and the better team always wins?
Oduro showing his class. Should’ve been red carded.
God, Montreal’s defense is AWFUL. Embarrassment.
Well the worst team in MLS made a pretty good run, now it’s on someone else to take it seriously
Just a matter of time for America.
….and there it is. Play like a small team lose like a small team.
Ohhhhh noooooo!!!
Great volley but the ball went right THROUGH Nicht. If he had just stood there, it would have hit him in the face.
Makes up for it there with 1v1 save.
What a goal
Got to wonder if the Impact’s failure to capitalize on at least a couple of their many counter attack opportunities (at home and at the Azteca) will come back to haunt them.
So I just got in from my son’s soccer game. Without rewinding to watch the first half, how many gifts have the refs given CA so far?
A ton, CA should have two players with reds, and down 3-0, but concacaf ganna concacrap.
Heck of a play by Duka to make the defensive play and start the counter. He was flying.
Impact have to take advantage of all their lightning quick counter-attacks that they are getting! They have been messing up the key pass that could/would lead to a one-on-one with America’s goalie.
Yeah, but the key is keeping America off the board as long as possible. With America playing a huge match on Sunday and having to travel and Montreal having the crowd on their side, you’d think the Impact would have something extra in their legs in the last 30 minutes.
How fit is Peralta anyway?
First game starting from injury, so 100%?
That’s it! Shove those tools right back, Impact! For the best team in CONCACAF, you’d expect a modicum of class not a bunch of classless jokers.
Love the laser light show on the Mexican goalie’s face!
Ugh. I know it’s just payback for America fans ridiculous behavior, but I wish that crap was banned. It’s absurd.
Why can’t we have decent impartial refs for these games?
It’s CONCACAF, that’s why.
No excuse. Big reason this competition gets little attention.
Exciting game thus far.
+1
The intensity is off the charts. This is the type of ferocious competition on the part of fans and players that could finally put CCL on the map. I wonder if we’ll wind up looking back on this as the beginning of something big for this tournament?
Go MTL! Brilliant by Piatti to set up the goal.
Brilliance on that end and a bit of luck on the other end off the crossbar. Nicht looked lost there, but maybe the soccer gods are smiling on Montreal this year.
Is this fake turf they are playing on? If so, why?
Fake turf should be illegal, unless you play in Siberia and/or Antarctica.
Thank you for trolling.
Not trolling, just asking a legitimate question. Why are they playing on that abomination? Football is meant to be played on grass.
Montreal has been playing on the same surface for years, so you’re either trolling or completely clueless.
When somebody calls another person troll, they lost the argument already.
You must be living under a rock. With all the buildup to this game, you just now find out Montreal plays on turf?
They probably play on turf for the same reasons that Seattle, Portland, Tijuana, and all the other teams that plays on turf do.
Kinda hard to grow grass indoors.
When somebody calls another person troll, they lost the argument already.
I’m pretty sure it’s real turf, not fake turf. Real turf is turf. Fake turf would be turf that’s not real, i.e., grass.
LOL no noob, turf = grass, artificial turf= that abomination the game is being played on
Ha! DEFINITELY a troll! Using a different name to say the exact same thing even using the exact same words. Classic trollery. Not sure how you guys live with yourselves.
When somebody calls another person troll, they lost the argument already.
Given how little you know about me, “noob” is a pretty big assumption on your part.
In the 38 years I’ve been playing in 6 countries on 2 continents, we referred to “grass” as “grass” and the fake stuff as “turf”