In between two of the biggest matches for the Crew in their CONCACAF Champions Cup history, they have to flip their focus back to MLS regular-season play with a match against CF Montreal at 7:30 pm Saturday at Lower.com Field.
The Crew are coming off a 2-1 victory over CF Monterrey in the first leg of the Champions Cup semifinals on Wednesday, which broke a six-game draw streak. Columbus coach Wilfried Nancy knows that the series is far from over but is embracing the break in the action against Monterrey.
“For me personally, I don’t like when we do back-to-back games (against one team),” Nancy said. “It’s not easy. Monterrey has a big game also on Sunday, so this is good to have another game. And after the game with Montreal, we’ll focus on the Monterrey game.”
More: 2 takeaways from Columbus Crew 2-1 first leg victory
Saturday will be a homecoming for Montreal coach Laurent Courtois, who was previously the coach for the developmental Crew 2 team.
Spending two seasons from 2022-23 with Crew 2, Courtois took the club to the MLS NEXT Pro championship match both years, winning the inaugural trophy in 2022 with multiple current Crew players, including Patrick Schulte and Jacen Russell-Rowe. Courtois finished his time in Columbus with a record of 38-8-13 and became the first MLS NEXT Pro coach to be hired at the first-team level in January.
Follow along for updates from Lower.com Field during the Columbus Crew-CF Montreal match.
For the first time since March 23 against Charlotte FC, Crew forward Cristian Ramirez was available for Columbus off the bench in the Monterrey match. Before Wednesday, Ramirez had been sidelined with a thigh injury that he suffered during the first half of the Charlotte match.
“He is good,” Nancy said this past Friday. “He was on the bench ready to help us against Monterrey, but I didn’t put him on the pitch. But he’s been good, ready to help us, ready to have minutes. So, we’ll see.”
Montreal is without multiple key players, including team-leading scorer Matias Coccaro. As reported by the Montreal Gazette, Coccaro suffered an injury against FC Cincinnati on April 13 that will keep him sidelined for eight to 10 weeks.
Here is CF Montreal’s full injury report:
- FW Matias Coccaro (knee)
- MF Lassi Lappalainen (hip)
- FW Josef Martinez (knee)
- FW Mahala Opoku (ankle)
- DF Joaquin Sosa (lower leg)
The only player listed on the Crew’s injury report is goalkeeper Evan Bush, who is dealing with a wrist injury.
Bush sustained his injury against Real Salt Lake on April 13. Nancy said it could be “months” before he returns.
In its past two matches, Montreal has put together strong outcomes over Orlando City SC and FC Cincinnati, both teams that Columbus faced in the MLS Cup playoffs last year.
Here are Montreal’s most recent results:
- April 20: Montreal 2, Orlando City SC 2
- April 13: Montreal 2, FC Cincinnati 1
- April 6: Seattle Sounders 5, Montreal 1
Montreal is in 10th in the Eastern Conference standings but is tied with the seventh through ninth teams (Atlanta United, New York City FC and Charlotte FC) with 11 points. Montreal has started the season with a 3-2-3 record.
The Crew is fourth in the Eastern Conference standings, accumulating 14 points with a 3-5-1 record. Columbus is sitting behind Inter Miami in first place, followed by the New York Red Bulls and FC Cincinnati.
The Crew vs. Montreal radio broadcast will be on Alt 105.7 FM and also available via the iHeartRadio app. Columbus’ regular radio broadcaster Chris Doran will be on the call.
The Spanish radio broadcast can be found on La Grande 102.5 FM and the La Grande radio app with Juan Valladares doing play-by-play.
The Crew vs Montreal match will be available to stream via Apple TV. While an MLS Season Pass subscription is usually necessary, this is the free match of the week.
On the call will be Keith Costigan doing play-by-play and Maurice Edu handling color analyst. Both Spanish and French broadcast options will be available for the match through Apple TV.
kickoff: 7:30 pm on Saturday, April 27 at Lower.com Field
