The Seattle Sounders will take on the Montreal Impact in Quebec on Saturday, March 11. Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know about the match:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 4 p.m. PT at Stade Olympique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
WHERE TO WATCH: The game will be televised on JOEtv and ROOT Sports (outside Seattle).
WHERE TO LISTEN: The game will air on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and in Spanish on El Rey 1360AM.
2016 RESULTS: Sounders: 4th place in the West, MLS Cup champions; Impact: 5th place in the East, lost in Eastern Conference Championship.
ALL-TIME HISTORY: The Sounders are 2-3-0 all time against the Impact.
RECENT RESULTS: The Sounders defeated the Impact 1-0 at CenturyLink Field on April 2, 2016, in the teams’ only meeting last season. Clint Dempsey scored the game-winner in the 79th minute off a corner kick from Andreas Ivanschitz.
2016 FINAL FOUR TEAMS SQUARE OFF: The Sounders defeated Toronto FC in Ontario to win the 2016 MLS Cup, but Seattle very nearly hosted Montreal for the title. The Impact led TFC 3-2 on aggregate after the first leg of the 2016 Eastern Conference Championship, and if not for a wild second leg in Toronto, the Impact would have returned to the Emerald City to compete for the Cup.
SAME TEAM, DIFFERENT VENUE: The Impact and Sounders will play at Stade Olympique (Olympic Stadium) rather than the Impact’s normal home of Stade Saputo due to March weather conditions in southeast Canada. The Olympic Stadium is indoors and seats more than 60,000 fans, a number Montreal surpassed in their win over Toronto FC in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship last season.
ROAD LOSSES OPEN 2017: The Sounders and Impact each dropped their respective regular-season openers on the road last week. Seattle fell 2-1 in Houston against the Dynamo, while the Impact were blanked in a 1-0 loss in San Jose to the Earthquakes.
RETURN OF THE SHIPP: Sounders midfielder Harry Shipp returns to Montreal where he spent the 2016 season. He scored two goals and added three assists in 27 games last year. The Sounders acquired Shipp late last December in exchange for General Allocation Money.
BATTLE OF SOUTH AMERICAN PLAYMAKERS: The Sounders’ Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro and the Impact’s Argentine midfielder Ignacio Piatti go head to head for the first time in MLS. The No. 10s and Designated Players are two of the league’s best at pulling the strings offensively.
A midseason signing from Argentina’s Boca Juniors, Lodeiro scored eight goals and added eight assists in 19 regular season and postseason matches in 2016 en route to being named MLS Newcomer of the Year. Piatti, meanwhile, recorded 17 goals and six assists in the regular season and added four more goals and two assists in five postseason matches, bringing Montreal to the brink of the MLS Cup Final.
MONTREAL’S THREE-HEADED MONSTER: Much is rightly made about the Sounders’ attacking trio of Nicolas Lodeiro, Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris, but Montreal’s counter of Ignacio Piatti, Matteo Mancosu and Dominic Oduro is just as menacing. The three hit their stride in last year’s postseason, combining for 10 goals and seven assists in just five games.
DROGBA OUT: Prolific forward Didier Drogba will not return to Montreal in 2017 after spending a year and a half with the club. The Impact acquired the former Chelsea great in the middle of 2015, and in 33 regular-season matches, he scored 21 goals and added seven assists.
DEMPSEY RETURNS: Sounders attacker Clint Dempsey returned to the lineup against the Houston Dynamo this past weekend for the first time in six months after recovering from an irregular heartbeat. He scored in the 58th minute for the Sounders’ lone goal and now has six tallies in his last four matches dating back to last season.
JOEVIN DRIVING: Sounders left back Joevin Jones was terrific all preseason and carried that form into the Sounders’ opener at Houston. His notable contribution of the evening came when set up Clint Dempsey’s goal on a dangerous cross that forced Tyler Deric into an awkward clearance. Jones owned the left wing and was a handful for Dynamo attackers and defenders alike.
