We know what the Montreal Impact are up against.
They will face the 12-time Liga MX and five-time North American champions Club América in the CONCACAF Champions League finals, starting with the first leg on Wednesday night at Estadio Azteca (9pm ET, FOX Sports 2, UniMás, TVA Sports in Canada), and they will have more than 100,000 fans rooting against them.
We also know MLS teams have had a rough go of it in Mexico – in all, they are 2-32-7 in competitive games played south of the border, so it's not exactly an appealing outlook for those pulling for the Impact.
Recent debacles include Sporting Kansas City getting trounced 5-1 by Cruz Azul after a first-leg win in last year's CCL quarterfinals and both the Seattle Sounders' and Toronto FC's disastrous tripsdown to Torreon to face Santos Laguna in 2012.
<b>MLS vs. Mexico, 1st Legs in Mexico (Champions League Era)</b> |
On a brighter note, this game is a bit different than the three mentioned above. Most MLS teams playing in Mexico have done so playing the second leg away from home, but this time around, Montreal will play the first leg of the series away from home.
As you can see in the table to the right, in the three instances that MLS teams have played against Mexican teams in Mexico in first legs during the Champions League era, they have fared well and at least kept the series close.
Seattle, was the only team to lose the first leg, yet the Sounders won their series after a 3-1 home victory against Tigres.
Another of the three results was the Impact's draw against Pachuca earlier this year, which should give them some confidence walking into the Azteca, where there is just one goal: keep it close and decide the series at the Big O.
