With seven games left this season, CF Montreal doesn’t want to be distracted by situations like Matko Miljevic’s, as next week will be crucial.
At a press conference on Thursday, Mathieu Choinière and Kwadwo Opoku preferred to leave the hot topic aside and focus on what comes next. The Chicago Fire will visit Saputo Stadium on Saturday and are direct rivals in the standings.
• Also read: CF Montreal: Matko Miljevic removed from group
• Also read: CF Montreal: A player banned for life… in an amateur league in Laval
• Also read: Samuel Piette, the man with records
“Every point in the last seven games will be important if we want to get into the playoffs. That is our goal and it starts with this encounter against Chicago,” assured the Quebec midfielder.
Hernan Losada, who only confirmed that Miljevic had not trained with the group and that he will not compete against the Fire, recalled the importance of next week. FC Cincinnati will also be in Montreal and CF will travel to Atlanta until September 23rd.
“It will not only be our results, but also those of the other teams,” explained the head coach. The most important thing is that we have our destiny in our hands. […] The next game is always the most important. You don’t have to do the math to wonder how many points we need.”
Currently, Bleu-Blanc-Noir is in a good position, in eighth place in the Eastern Association standings, five points behind Nashville SC. Should the season end tomorrow, CF Montreal would have to take part in a play-off game.
No panic
Montreal was unable to play its last two meetings and suffered a bitter 4-2 defeat against the Columbus Crew last Saturday. This time it will be important to give the fans a better show.
However, Losada believes there is something positive to be learned from this meeting.
“It was a different game. We were playing against the best offense in the league. “We hadn’t allowed a goal in the 10 games before Columbus, which means our defense overall was very solid,” Losada said, citing the team’s number of shutouts this season. We’re not going to change everything because of one game.”
“[Il faut] Be better defensively and concede fewer goals, Choinière admitted. Everyone has to work on not taking it.”
Of the teams in the East in playoff position, only Atlanta United has allowed more goals than Montreal. The Georgia club allowed 43 goals but scored 51, while the football club scored 28 goals and conceded 40 goals.