CF Montreal will travel to hostile ground — to say the least — on Wednesday night in the first leg of their series against Cruz Azul in the quarter-finals of the Concacaf Champions League, at the stadium Azteca from Mexico.
This duel will come less than a week after thousands of spectators came to blows in the stands and on the pitch during a Liga MX match between Atlas and Queretaro at the Estadio Corregidora, leaving at least 26 injured . Horrible images that have gone around the world, but to which the head coach of CF Montreal, Wilfried Nancy, did not want to expose himself.
“I was sent the videos [des incidents], and I haven’t watched them because I don’t want to. I saw pictures and that was enough for me. It’s sad, because fans are very important when we’re on the pitch. They push us, we play for them first, and we don’t want to see events like the ones that happened there, ”he said by videoconference from Mexico City.
“Of course there is a rivalry, a rivalry that is healthy, even if I know – I come from Europe – that there are fights sometimes, it’s normal, that’s how it is. But there, it was “wow”! It’s cold in the back. Then what should be done? Well we have to punish, ”he continued.
However, the Azteca stadium indicated on its official Twitter account that it had put tickets for the match between CF Montreal and Cruz Azul on sale Tuesday afternoon, after rumors of a closed session began to circulate. A decision that surprised Nancy. ” I was surprised. At first it was without a spectator. And now it seems official that it will be in front of spectators. I’m still surprised, but hey, that’s how it is. We’ll go with it. We know the environment… it would have been great to play behind closed doors. There will be a lot of people, so we will play our game and we will give everything, ”he said.
In addition, Nancy remained very evasive about the composition of her starting lineup against Cruz Azul. He expects, however, that the Mexican formation, which has played nine games in a month, put its best elements on the ground, in order to quickly set the tone for the game.
“I know that their coach [Juan Reynoso Guzmán] have rotated their squad a lot recently, so yes, they have a few injuries, but that doesn’t change my speech. We have to do something good so that we have the opportunity to play at home with an advantage,” said Nancy.
Useful experience
Still, the Azteca Stadium, an 87,523-seat building where legends such as Brazil’s Pelé (1970) and Argentina’s Diego Maradona (1986) have already triumphed in the World Cup, can be intimidating. Especially for a young team like CF Montreal.
It is in this context that the experience of CF Montreal defender Alistair Johnston can prove useful. After all, the 23-year-old Canadian played there just a few months ago with the Canadian team.
“The Azteca is completely different from what the guys know. The atmosphere there, you cannot understand until you have felt it yourself on the ground, and the altitude [de Mexico] play an important role. Also, the crowd, they know how to be intimidating,” he said.
In this sense, Johnston indicated that he will offer advice to his young teammates, so that they avoid the traps of the Azteca and keep a cool head.
“They have to understand that when they’re doing long runs at full throttle, which usually require 10 seconds of recovery, well over there it’s going to take 20 (because of the altitude). And it’s probably in those extra 10 seconds that you’ll find yourself one-on-one. So they have to listen to their body, because it will be different,” he explained.
“I also try to tell them that when they (Cruz Azul) have possession of the ball, then we should avoid running unnecessarily. We will have to stick together and play as a unit, otherwise things can quickly degenerate, ”he continued.
The return match between CF Montreal and Cruz Azul will be presented at the Olympic Stadium on March 16.
The Montrealers defeated Santos Laguna 3-1 on aggregate in the home-and-away series in the Concacaf Champions League Round of 16.