Here are five things you should know about the Impact-Deportivo Saprissa game in San Jose, Costa Rica, on Wednesday (8 p.m., TSN5, RDS).
The matchup: This is the first leg of a two-game, total-goal series in the first round of the CONCACAF Champions League. The second leg will be played next Wednesday at the Olympic Stadium. The Impact, which reached the CCL final in 2015, qualified for the 16-team competition by ending Toronto FC’s three-year reign in the Canadian Championship. Deportivo Saprissa is one of two Costa Rican representatives in the competition and has won the CCL title five times, most recently in 2005.
Ready to go: Saprissa will benefit from the fact it is in the middle of its league schedule in Costa Rica’s Primera Division. Saprissa has picked up 20 points from nine league games and is tied for first place with Herediano, which has played one more game. The Impact has been training in Florida, where it has played four exhibition games against MLS teams. They have lost all those games and didn’t score a goal until off-season acquisition Romell Quioto converted a penalty shot in a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies last weekend.
Under new management: Thierry Henry, who was one of the game’s greatest players, became the Impact’s sixth coach in eight MLS seasons and he faces a formidable task as he tries to turn around a team that has missed the playoffs the past three seasons. The job is made more difficult because the Impact has lost its most talented offensive player in Ignacio Piatti as well as veteran defender Bacary Sagna. Henry, whose previous coaching experience was a short and unsuccessful run with Monaco, is hoping to install a system based on possession, but he has to count on Joey Saputo freeing up cash to upgrade the roster.
Who replaces Piatti? One of the keys to success in two-leg competitions is to score away goals, which count double, and that will be the challenge for Montreal in the opening leg. With Piatti returning to his native Argentina, the Impact has strikers in Orji Okwonkwo, a young talent on loan from Bologna, and Anthony Jackson-Hamel, a homegrown player who has never reached his potential. They will look for production from midfielders Saphir Taider — he was the team’s leading goal-scorer last season — Bojan, former teen sensation Ballou and Finn Lassi Lappalainen, who has been injured and is doubtful for the first leg.
Venegas leads Saprissa: Impact fans might recognize one player on the Saprissa roster. Johan Venegas, who played with the Impact in 2015-16, anchors the midfield. He played 32 regular-season games for the Impact and was part of the Montreal squad that went to the CONCACAF Champions League final in 2015. He is a member of the Costa Rica national team and represented the country at the 2018 World Cup. Christian Bolanos, a 36-year-old defender, and former Portland Timber midfielder David Guzma also played in the World Cup, while goalkeeper Adam Cruz is on the national team.
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