Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs – Play-In Match
New England Revolution vs. Montreal Impact
Gillette Stadium – Foxborough
November 20 – 6:30 PM ET
TV: FS1, FOX Deportes, TSN 1/4, TVA Sports
STREAMING: FOX Sports App in US
No one in MLS history has more playoff wins than Bruce Arena, who will be looking for his 33rd on Nov. 20, when the New England Revolution host Thierry Henry's Montreal Impact in an Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs Play-in Match at Gillette Stadium.
Arena has guided the Revs to back-to-back postseason appearances after a three-year drought, while Henry, in his first season, guided the Impact to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2016. Neither team goes into the second season on particularly good form with the Revs winning just one of their last five games, while the Impact lost five of their final seven matches. But the Impact secured their spot in dramatic fashion, rallying to defeat D.C. United 3-2 at Audi Field on Decision Day presented by AT&T.
Home field advantage? Not so fast with the Revs 2W-3L-5D at Gillette Stadium, while the Impact are 4W-5L-1D away from home. However, one of New England's two wins in Foxborough came against Montreal, a 3-1 victory on Sept. 23. The teams met four times during the season, with the Revolution dominating Montreal 3W-1L-0D.
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New England Revolution
The Revs had long since clinched a playoff spot, but they enter the postseason following a thorough 2-0 defeat to the Philadelphia Union, which cliched the Supporters' Shield for Jim Curtin's side. Arena was able to roll out a starting XI with all three Designated Players —Gustavo Bou, Carles Gil and Adam Buksa for the second straight match and fourth time this season. Arena wasn't blaming a potential lack of chemistry between the three as the reason they fell on Decision Day.
Arena was full of praise for Henry leading up to their first playoff encounter as fellow head coaches. Not just for a commitment to a style, but also for his leadership during a trying 2020 season.
“One thing that I think that's been challenging for Thierry, as well as it's challenging for people like myself and all the other coaches in the league, is dealing with your players during the pandemic,” Arena said Wednesday during a virtual press conference. “It was magnified in the case of Montreal given the fact that they had to leave home and take up shop in New Jersey. That's extremely challenging, and the fact that Thierry was able to get his team through this and qualify for the playoffs is remarkable. I would say he gets a real good grade in terms of being a leader of a club in a very difficult year.”
- Updated team roster
- Injury Report:
- OUT: Luis Caicedo (M) - right knee injury
- OUT: Cristian Penilla (F) - left foot fracture
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: None
Montreal Impact
In a match Henry said his team "showed character," the Impact rallied from an early deficit to beat D.C. United 3-2 at Audi Field to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Victor Wanyama leveled in the 74th minute and Romell Quioto scored the dramatic winner two minutes from time.
The win, because of how his team suffered, was a microcosm of the Impact's season, according to Henry. Making the playoffs, considering all the obstacles in his first season, was a major accomplishment.
“I’ll be honest with you, this is by a distance the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with,” Henry said in an interview with TSN 690 in Montreal. “A lot of people talking throughout the whole year and they don’t have one single clue what’s happening behind closed doors. People like to judge and talk.
“If we didn’t go into the playoffs, let’s all be honest, everyone would have said: ‘Oh, What is this? What is that? They didn’t perform.’” Henry continued. “Nobody would have looked for ‘We were away. We were this or we were that.’ And it would have been the coach and I understand, I’m the captain of the boat and I would have taken the blame. Because that’s how it is. It doesn’t really matter. But when you look at it carefully and properly it wasn’t an easy one.”
An additional challenge comes Friday with the Impact missing key midfield cogs in Wanyama, who is quarantining after international duty, and the suspended Samuel Piette. However, Haitian international Steeven Saba, who was signed in February but has been out since May with a broken foot, is available.
"We're going to try to concentrate on who is playing and what we can do. Obviously we are underdogs," the coach said. "But we're going to go there and try to perform. And it doesn't matter who's playing."
- Updated team roster
- Injury Report:
- OUT: Mathieu Choinière (M) - ankle injury
- OUT: Lassi Lappalainen (M) - shoulder injury
- Suspended: Samuel Piette (M)
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: Victor Wanyana (M)
Series Matchup at Revolution
- Revolution: 6 wins, 16 goals
- Impact: 4 wins, 11 goals
- 1 draw
MLS Cup Playoffs
- This is the first all-time MLS Cup Playoffs meeting between the New England Revolution and Montreal Impact
Officials
- Referee: Jair Marrufo
- Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Jose da Silva
- 4th Official: Rubiel Vazquez
- VAR: Alan Kelly
