By Canadian Press

CF Montreal ‘not afraid of anyone’ as Major League Soccer season kicks off

Feb 21, 2025 | 2:46 PM

MONTREAL — CF Montreal ended the 2024 Major League Soccer season as one of the league’s most in-form clubs.

Montreal posted a record of 4-2-1 in its last seven games in a late push for the MLS Cup playoffs.

While Montreal was eliminated in a play-in loss to Atlanta United on penalty kicks, there was a sense of end-of-season optimism within the club that had not been felt in some time.

Now, after 123 days of off-season work, Montreal is putting the finishing touches on preparation for the 2025 campaign.

“Everything is in place right now and if you look at the moves we’ve done during this window and the changes we’ve brought both to the squad and the technical staff, I’m very comfortable with the work done,” club president Gabriel Gervais before a season-opening rematch with Atlanta on Saturday.

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“We’ve built a good team spirit in training camp … there was lots of intensity but the right kind, not clumsy or malicious and it shows how excited the guys are (for Saturday’s game).”

BLENDING OLD WITH NEW

With the club’s training facility not winterized and its usual pre-season home of Olympic Stadium currently under renovation, Montreal has spent most of the last two training camps in the southern United States.

One of the few advantages of spending the majority of training camp away from home is the team environment aimed at acclimatizing new signings.

Following an exodus of players at the end of last season, the club’s front office has brought in nine new players as well as signing two from its academy.

“It’s been great to have new guys that are coming in, that have quality, and that have talent,” said captain Samuel Piette, who just signed a three-year contract extension and will extend his lead as the club’s all-time appearances leader. “They’re hungry and they’re trying to make a name for themselves.

“I think that’s the beauty of our team this year, we have a lot of depth and honestly, I feel like we could change any players and quality wouldn’t drop.”

Montreal’s offence took a hit in both potency and experience with the loss of strikers Josef Martinez and Matias Coccaro, who combined for 19 goals and four assists in all competitions last year.

New designated player Giacomo Vrioni, obtained in an off-season trade with New England, could fill the void but is expected to miss some time. The former Juventus forward hasn’t joined the squad in training due to a nagging calf injury and will not play the season opener.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

As is tradition, Montreal, will start the season on a lengthy road trip with the first seven taking place away from Saputo Stadium.

The club has shown an ability to turn that early trip into both points and team bonding, but last year’s road swing yielded mixed results.

Montreal started the season in phenomenal form, winning seven points in three games including wins over FC Dallas and Inter Miami.

However, the road trip quickly fell off the rails when a loss to Chicago after leading 3-1 in the 85th minute sent them spiralling and winning just two games in the ensuing three months.

“We will still make mistakes; it’s just about how you minimize them,” head coach Laurent Courtois said. “There were mistakes that we knew were coming but we felt like we had to experience them.

“We know who we can count on, and we know what’s challenging for us, so in that sense we feel more prepared.”

Only four players on this year’s squad are over 26, placing Montreal once again among the youngest squads in MLS.

This year, the returning players — regardless of experience — feel ready for the challenge of integrating a young squad on the road.

“It kind of motivates us, seeing that we play a lot of away games now and through most of the summer, when we’re playing every three days, we’ll be home for that,” said goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.

“We’ve already been away from home for almost a month and a half together. We were away from Montreal, our families, and for some guys even their kids and wives so I think we already started to create a bond in the group. Being away kind of reinforces that.”

FOUR-MONTH HOME-AND-HOME

First up is an Atlanta team coming off a surprising season. After eliminating Montreal in the play-in game, Atlanta posted a big upset against Supporters Shield winners and all-time MLS points record holders Inter Miami.

After busy off-season, Atlanta is primed to return among the biggest clubs in the Eastern Conference.

“This is a team with lots of talent, but we’re not scared of anyone. We respect every team, but we can’t be afraid of anybody,” said Courtois. “It’s a special environment (in Atlanta) so the guys are really excited to get out there and compete.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2025.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press