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MLS PLAYOFFS MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 28, 2016

New York, New York

THE MODERATOR: We'll turn it over to our Montreal Impact portion of the call. If we could please have initial comments from Mauro Biello and Ignacio Piatti.

Head Coach Mauro Biello, can you give us a brief snapshot of what you're looking forward to on Wednesday night?

MAURO BIELLO: Yeah, obviously it's a big game. We're one step away from reaching the final. We're expecting a game with lots of emotions. We're in our final preparations getting ready for this game. The players are excited, the spirit is good within the group, and we're ready for this game to get started.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Initial comments from Mr. Piatti?

IGNACIO PIATTI: Yeah, this is a very important game for us. This is a final, and it's a chance to make history. This is the first opportunity for us to go that far, and we are very much ready to take on this game.

Q. The question is about a foul that could have been called on Altidore on the second goal from Toronto on Tuesday.
IGNACIO PIATTI: I don't have much to say about this. What's done is done. What's important is what we have to do in the next game on Wednesday. That's what we're focused on.

Q. The question was about the rivalry.
IGNACIO PIATTI: Obviously this rivalry goes a little further than even just the two teams in the MLS. Obviously it's two big Canadian cities in Canada, always trying to fight their way to being the best city for whatever reason in this country. Their sporting events give out bragging rights, whether it's in hockey or now in soccer.

So it makes for a great sporting event to be a part of this, and soccer is only going to benefit with games like this, and obviously with Toronto doing so well in the last couple of years and ourselves being in the playoffs and matching up against them only augments the nature of this rivalry.

Q. When you went to Toronto in August and won that game, does that result matter now mentally for you guys? Or perhaps conversely, if you hadn't gotten that win, which I think was your first there, if I'm not mistaken, would that be on your mind?
MAURO BIELLO: I think the fact that we were able to experience that obviously is a positive for us and our team. To be able to come out of there with a victory with ten men speaks a lot about the character on this team.

We're expecting a difficult challenge over there. But for sure, I think when you're able to experience things and you're able to grow from that, those experiences become valuable again when those moments come back around.

So hopefully for us we're able to take out the positives of what we did in a game like that over there in a hostile territory and how to be successful.

Q. Mauro, you obviously had the lead going into this second leg. Toronto has to do something to change that. Do you expect them to come at you in a different way, change anything, or will it be more of the same?
MAURO BIELLO: No, I think we need to expect everything. We need to prepare for everything. In the end, yes, we have that advantage. For us, it's about being ready of what Toronto could give us and at the same time preparing the teams so that we can unbalance them. In the end, the message to my team, obviously, when we don't have the ball is to limit their space and time, and when we do have the ball it's about believing that we can score in any moment.

Q. I know Didier Drogba didn't train again today. What's his status heading into the game? And can we expect to see the same starting 11 you've been sticking with the last little while?
MAURO BIELLO: Yeah, the update on Didier is he had flu-like symptoms in the last couple days. He felt better today. We decided to keep him at home, not to affect any of the other players. But he's feeling better, and he should be in training for tomorrow.

In terms of the lineup, in terms of preparation, there are different things that we're looking at in terms of our preparation based on what we need to improve and based on what Toronto can give us. And right now we're in our final preparation, and we're going to decide how we will play.

Q. I wanted to ask, you're a coach, going into this game with the lead, also with the fact that Toronto scored two late goals on the road, what is the approach going in, if it's any different than the first leg? And thank you.
MAURO BIELLO: Yeah, obviously, I think you always need to be prepared and things change quickly. It's a two-game series. We knew that after the first game the series wasn't over and we were going to play a second game. Not only the score, the 3-2 lead obviously gives us a little bit of an advantage going in there. And in the end, it's about finding that result that we need to go through.

You know, the game, the first game we took that lead, that 3-0 lead, and, you know, we took a little bit of our foot off the pedal. We saw the finish line, and we decided to slow down a little bit. But, you know, those are experiences that we need to learn from and grow from. In the end now, we're preparing to be ready for different moments and how we need to react to those moments.

Q. Playing against Sebastian Giovinco, if there was any extra motivation involved in playing against a player like him?
IGNACIO PIATTI: Yes, I do know him. I got acquainted with him after the most recent All-Star Game. He's an excellent player and good person. I don't have a rivalry with him. I just want to win on Wednesday, become a champion with Montreal. Get along well with him. We only have one game left, and that's what we're focused on.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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