CF Montréal confident in ability to rally past Santos Laguna

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While admitting there’s plenty of room for improvement, CF Montréal players believe a one-goal deficit hardly makes for an insurmountable mountain to climb as they prepare for the final leg of their Champions League series against Santos Laguna.

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The concluding game in the round of 16 aggregate competition goes Tuesday at Olympic Stadium (8 p.m., OneSoccer, TSN Radio 690, 91.9 Sports FM). Capacity will be limited to 50 per cent due to COVID-19 health restrictions. The lower bowl of the facility can therefore accommodate 15,605 spectators. According to a CFM official, 90 per cent of those available seats are expected to be sold.

“I think we know we’re in it and we had lots of chances down in Mexico,” defender Joel Waterman said Monday, during a video conference. “The game’s there for the taking.

“We know the ratio — how many goals we need to win by,” he added. “It’s a long game, 90 minutes, and we don’t have to rush anything. Just stay composed. We just need to get one and it’s anyone’s game.”

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While CFM lost 1-0 last Tuesday to the Liga MX side in Torreón, Mexico, it took a late goal in the 88th minute from Alberto Ocejo to propel the home team, which was clearly growing frustrated trying to produce offense despite a 26-7 advantage in shots, eight of which were on target, compared with two for the Canadian club.

While there’s no denying CF Montréal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza repeatedly saved his team, the match might have taken a different turn had Romell Quioto’s goal in the sixth not been disallowed following a controversial foul assessed on Lassi Lappailanen.

“Breza did an amazing job and kept us in the game,” defender Kamal Miller said. “Without him, the scoreline would be looking a lot different and the feeling going into this game would be a lot different. It was a massive performance. Fix those little areas and we’ll be much better in the second game.

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“I think we’re in a good spot,” added the Canadian international. “It was an unlucky goal to concede that late in the game… but we’re thinking we’re in a good spot. It’s definitely not over. We know, at our home, we always put good pressure on teams and have a good chance to get a result. We’re optimistic about the game coming up.”

CFM’s mandate is fairly academic, and producing a clean sheet would greatly enhance its chances of advancing. A 1-0 victory, for example, and the teams would proceed to penalty kicks as opposed to two 15-minute overtime periods. A two-goal victory would eliminate Santos Laguna.

“We need to score; we know that,” manager Wilfried Nancy said. “We play this sport and game to score goals, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to do that.

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“Obviously the fact we’re playing at home, we want to put more pressure at certain moments during the game. We weren’t able to do it (last Tuesday) because we were away, against a good team also. But we need to play our game and want to be a collective team defensively. I liked certain moments, during the game, the way we played. We didn’t finish the way I wanted — the final pass.”

Nancy said veteran striker Kei Kamara, signed last Friday as a free agent, will be available. Although it’s unlikely the manager would start Kamara after only two practices with his new team, the option of having him on the bench as a potential substitute, especially should CF Montréal require a goal, is intriguing.

Canadian defender Alistair Johnston, acquired on Dec. 23 from Nashville SC, also is available, having been removed from COVID protocol. And with another week of training, veteran French defender Rudy Camacho could be a back-line option. Repentigny’s Samuel Piette and attacking midfielder Ahmen Hamdi aren’t expected to dress.

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This marks the second time in Champions League history these clubs have met. Prior to joining MLS, the Montreal Impact faced Santos Laguna in the quarter-finals of the 2009 tournament when, after a 2-0 home victory, lost the return leg 5-2.

Nancy intimated last week he might use some of that history as motivation.

“We want to write our own story and make our own history,” Waterman said. “We know the importance of what this game means.

“It’s huge motivation for us, having our fans behind us. Mexico’s a tough place to play. Now they have to come to our backyard. We feel like we have an advantage.”

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