MONTREAL IMPACT vs. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
STADE SAPUTO, Montreal, Que.
August 7, 2013 (CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage)
8 pm ET (FOX Soccer Plus)
The Montreal Impact opens the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League against the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) at Stade Saputo this Wednesday at 8pm ET. The game will be broadcast live on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada and Fox Soccer Plus in the USA.
Head to head
The Impact and the San Jose Earthquakes faced each other once in MLS regular season this season in a 2-2 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium in California, thanks to a brace by Justin Mapp.
Montreal are currently in third spot in the Eastern Conference standings, with a record of 10-6-5, good for 35 points from 21 games played, while San Jose are currently 8th in the Western Conference with a record of 8-9-6.
Playing in CONCACAF Champions League
The Impact qualified for the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League after taking home the Voyageurs Cup as the best team in Canada. The Impact won the semifinal series 6-2 against Toronto FC, losing the first leg 2-0 on April 24 at BMO Field before winning 6-0 on May 1 at Stade Saputo.
Montreal and San Jose will face off again on Sept. 17 in California. In Group 5, the Impact will also face C.D. Heredia in Guatemala on Aug. 21 and then on Sept. 24 at Stade Saputo.
The Impact had also won the first edition of the Canadian championship in 2008, and went on to reach the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal.
Mexican club Monterrey has won the last three editions of the CONCACAF Champions League, but did not qualify this time around.
San Jose Earthquakes news
In their last MLS regular season matchup, Chris Wondolowski scored twice to lead the Earthquakes to a 2-0 win against Chivas USA in front of a sold out crowd at Buck Shaw Stadium. Wondolowski had missed the previous four matches while on national team duty with the United States at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
United States men's national team defender Clarence Goodson and Salvadoran midfielder Jaime Alas made their club debuts last Saturday.
The Earthquakes automatically qualified for the group stage of the 2013 CONCACAF Champions League when it finished as the best team in all of MLS in 2012, winning the Supporters Shield with 66 points from 34 games played, for a record of 19-6-9.
The Earthquakes' other group matches against C.D. Heredia are set for August 28 in Guatemala and October 23 in California.
The Quakes best performance in the Champions League was a quarterfinal finish in both 2002 and 2004 (when it was known as the CONCACAF Champions Cup), falling to Mexico's Pachuca and Costa Rica's L.D. Alajuelense, respectively.
