BEAVERTON, Ore. – When the Portland Timbers went about the task this week of scouting their upcoming opponent, Montreal Impact, there was no shortage of material to dig in to.
Plenty on the team had even closely watched the Impact of late in their thrilling run to the CONCACAF Champions League finals, rooting for the Canadian champions along the way.
“I think everybody in the locker room got to watch their run and were cheering them on,” Timbers center back Nat Borchers said from the team facility this week before departing for the Saturday afternoon matchup at Stade Saputo (4 pm ET; TSN).
Problem is, all that scouting material presents something of a conundrum for Portland. The Impact employed an effective counter-attacking approach in their CCL run, but will that be their style now that they’re back to MLS play for the first time since they fell to Club America in a 4-2 defeat in the second leg of the finals April 29 at a sold-out and raucous Olympic Stadium?
Montreal have only played four league games to date, with the last one coming April 11 against the Houston Dynamo, and have amassed an 0-2-2 record. Most MLS teams are sitting on nine or 10 games at this point in the season.
“They made that run because they’ve got quality,” Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said. “It’s deceiving when you see where they’re at in the table, but part of that is because they haven’t played many games and they put their eggs in the Champions League basket, which is what they should have been doing, so now they have to shift gears.”
In their first game back from CCL, a 1-0 victory Wednesday over Toronto FC in the first leg of an Amway Canadian Championship semifinal, Montreal controlled the match. It was a marked departure from their counter-attacking style, perhaps muddying the waters for Saturday’s match even more.
“Now being back at home, back in the league, they’re playing now a team that isn’t Club America – we’re not as good as Club America – so now do now they try push the game a little bit more?” Porter said. “So there will probably be somewhat of a transition there in how they play. They might just continue with the counter attack as well, so we’ll be ready for both ways.
"But they were very effective playing that way in the Champions League, so I think that’s something probably they have to figure out as well is how they’re going to shift gears in league now that they’re playing teams more at their level.”
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Regardless, Portland are well aware that Montreal have the firepower to employ either approach effectively. Porter said their front six of attacking midfielder Ignacio Piatti, midfielders Andres Romero, Marco Donadel, Dilly Duka and Dominic Oduro and striker Jack McInerney are a handful for any team.
“I think we’re all impressed in what they can do on both sides of the ball,” Borchers said. “I think offensively, really dynamic with Oduro and Piatti and Romero. And you throw a guy like Jack McInerney in there who’s a clinical finisher, they definitely can present some problems for us.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
