MONTREAL — CF Montreal’s ruthless 3-0 dismantling of Santos Laguna in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 was seen a warning shot to every other team in the tournament. It was until now the best iteration of head coach Wilfried Nancy’s possession-based philosophy that focused on ball movement and fluidity in the final third.
Montreal has since crashed back to reality in the most brutal way possible, losing their next four, including Saturday's 4-1 rout at the hands of reigning MLS Cup Champions New York City FC.
“When you play every three days, we don’t have a choice but to focus on the next game,” said Nancy. “We’ve done our training and our recovery and all that’s left is to put in a monster game and get into the semifinal.”
Montreal’s losing streak was accentuated by a 1-0 loss at Cruz Azul’s Estadio Azteca where they spent the better part of the 90 minutes on the defensive.
Despite the team's recent form, Montreal does have one thing going its way heading into Wednesday's match with Cruz Azul and it was the same thing that powered them in the previous tie against Santos. Home field advantage — be it the Montreal crowd’s vocal support or Olympic Stadium’s notorious artificial turf field — should aid the home side as they try to reverse another 1-0 deficit.
“When you’re playing on this kind of turf it’s tough. It’s almost like a game of chance with the bounces so we might be a bit more used to it,” said midfielder Djordje Mihailovic. “It’s a really quick field. The turf is 20 or 30 years old so it’s pretty flat and the ball moves fast. When you focus on that first touch it puts you in a great position for what you want to do.”
The resulting speed played right into Montreal’s hands against Santos Laguna’s deep-lying defence and is going to be more crucial against Cruz Azul. Over the course of the first leg, the Mexican side’s press was completely suffocating, breaking down Montreal attacks before they could even get started, causing turnovers in the most dangerous areas, and outshooting their opponents 19-1.
“The first game was tough, I don’t believe too much in statistics, but it is what it is,” said captain Victor Wanyama. “It’s just another game and it’s 0-0 at the start. We have to stay calm and take our chances as early as possible and be on the front foot.”
While Montreal is coming into this game with the same score line as their Round of 16 tie, the circumstances could not be more different. Montreal dominated Santos Laguna for large portions of their first game and could feel hard done for not coming away with a draw or even a win. In this tie, however, Nancy and his men seem satisfied — even relieved — to be only trailing 1-0.
“At the end of the day, it’s the same score,” said Nancy. “I always concentrate on my team and how we play. Cruz Azul may have a different style of play than Santos but this changes nothing for us. We have to score goals and not concede any.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2022.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
