MONTREAL -- The Montreal Impact smell blood. The clubs final group stage match in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night will come against a New York Red Bulls team that is already eliminated from contention for the quarter-finals. And the Red Bulls will likely sit out most of their best players to save them for a Major League Soccer match on Sunday that has playoff implications. It is a glittering chance for the Impact to finish the group stage with a perfect 4-0-0 record and perhaps earn one of the top four seeds for the quarter-finals. But coach Frank Klopas cautioned this week that the Impact cant expect to walk into Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., and take the three points without any effort, even if New York opts to use mostly reserve players. The game they played here against us (a 1-0 Montreal win on Sept. 17), they played some guys that are not in their starting group, but theres a lot for all those guys to play for, said Klopas. Its the end of the season, and maybe its an opportunity to impress their coach. They have a lot to prove. Theyre playing for contracts. But regardless of who we play, we have to focus on ourselves. And its another opportunity to get a win on the road. Its not MLS, but it counts. On the downside, the Impact will be without arguably their two best players, as midfielder Ignacio Piatti is nursing tendinitis in a knee and striker Marco Di Vaio has a one-game suspension. Otherwise, they expect to field a strong lineup. The Impact have had a miserable MLS season, sitting last in the Eastern Conference thanks largely to a 0-12-5 record away from home. But they won the Canadian Championship, which put them into the Champions League group stage, where they already have an away win over CD FAS of El Salvador. Montreal clinched a quarter-final spot when the Red Bulls (1-1-1) were held to a draw by CD FAS. And the club has its 3-2 away win in San Salvador on Aug. 20 to build on. Now we can do it again, said midfielder Maxim Tissot. Itll be big for us to get momentum for next year. Weve been playing better. Maybe its because we dont have the stress of trying to make the playoffs, but weve been moving the ball better. The fifth-place Red Bulls have made the MLS playoffs, but a win Sunday in Kansas City can move them into third place and avoid the fourth versus fifth knockout game. Or it could give them home field advantage if they come fourth and have to play the knock-out match against either Kansas City or Columbus. To finish with four wins would give Montreal a chance to play the quarter-final return leg at home. Theoretically, it would also give them a weaker opponent, although all eight teams in the quarter-finals should be tough. Tissot said Montreal hopes to draw a fellow MLS side. The quarter-finals will be played between Feb. 24 and March 5, when MLS teams are still in training camp but clubs from Mexico and Central America will be in mid-season. Id prefer to play a team from MLS, Tissot said. That may not be best for the league, but it may be best for us because well know the team were facing. No matter who we play, we have to be ready. But we want as much on our side as possible. MLS clubs D.C. United and the Portland Timbers are also 3-0-0 headed into their final group stage match. Montreal reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2009. That year, they beat Santos Laguna 2-0 at home before more than 55,000 at Olympic Stadium only to collapse in the second half of a 5-2 defeat in the return leg in Mexico. Now theyve earned another shot. Its big for the club, said Tissot, a Gatineau, Que. native who was playing youth soccer at that time. Well want to get our revenge. We lost in a pretty difficult way. I think (president) Joey Saputo and (general manager) Nick De Santis still remember. (Assistant GM) Matt Jordan played in that game, so he remembers. Well want to win for them especially. The Impact wont be in next years Champions League. That spot has already gone to the Vancouver Whitecaps. A rule change for this year only gives the 2015 CONCACAF spot to the Canadian team that finished highest in MLS standings. Normally, it goes to the club that wins the Canadian Championship trophy, the Voyageurs Cup. Vincent Kompany Jersey .C. -- LeBron James called comments on an audio recording of a man identified as Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling "appalling" and said hes not sure if he would suit up for the remainder of the NBA playoffs if he played for the Clippers. Phil Foden Jersey . Just ask Arsenal fans. However, Arsene Wenger has repeatedly told anyone willing to listen that finishing in that spot is more important than winning a cup competition. http://www.authenticmanchestercityshop.c...er-City-Jersey/. Their 9-19 record remains identical to the crosstown rivals in Brooklyn and trails both Toronto and Boston in the Atlantic Division. Raymond Felton, their declining point guard, is back on the sideline nursing his third injury of the season. David Silva Jersey . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. Tosin Adarabioyo Jersey . The former Toronto FC designated player played three of his 15 professional seasons with the team.SUNRISE, Fla. – It took only a day for James van Riemsdyk to get his mind back to hockey. The Maple Leafs winger was in the driveway of his New Jersey home on the second day of the NHLs three-day Christmas stopover, shooting pucks on the driveway with his two younger brothers. Maybe for the first couple days you let your mind relax, but then at that point you start thinking about okay Ive got to be ready to go for the next game, said van Riemsdyk ahead of the clubs return to game action on Sunday in a matinee against the Panthers. Its kind of snapping back to reality, added head coach Randy Carlyle. They had some time with their family and they had a Christmas holiday, but now its time to go back to work. And if you look at the schedule and you look at the work that were going to have in front of us we better be ready. We have to be sharp mentally and thats really what were trying to do. The Leafs are about to enter their most difficult portion of the schedule, a road-heavy stretch that sees the club play 14 of the next 18 away from the comfy confines of the ACC. That stretch starts Sunday with a chaotic run of five games in seven nights in destinations ranging from sunny Florida to chilly Winnipeg. Toronto has played the most home games in the league thus far (tied with Detroit), taking full advantage with a league-leading 14 wins – also just behind the likes of Montreal, Tampa, and Detroit in the Atlantic division. But they have found that success with increasingly shaky fundamentals, looking more and more like the group that scored a boatload of goals while standing on the shoulders of two overworked goaltenders last year. Their possession numbers have predictably tumbled, better than only the Sabres and Blue Jackets in the past 16 games. Carlyle put his team through a detail-oriented 90-minute practice Saturday afternoon with that in mind.dddddddddddd He worked the whiteboard, shouted out instructions, took questions and answers from the group during strategy sessions and skated players some after three straight days off the ice. All of it with the hope of shaping a flawed product. The Leafs gave up more shots than anyone last year and theyre not far off from fulfilling that pace once again this season. Only Buffalo has given up more shots on average than Toronto, including a 43-shot barrage in Dallas just before the break. It was the fourth time in 10 games that the club allowed 40 shots or more and ninth time in 35 games this season. As they have done so many times in recent memory, the Leafs survived on the strength of Jonathan Bernier – who earned his second shutout of the year – and a gaudy offence that scores more than any team in the league. We were loose and Bernie was called upon far, far too many times, Carlyle said of the 4-0 win over the Stars. That was the message [today]: we cannot continue to accept whats going on out there in the defensive zone. Eventually the goaltending crumbles under the weight of such a burden, as it did during a three-game losing skid that preceded the teams win in Dallas. Can the Leafs change course? Can they find a way to consistently implement the robotic structure theyve displayed only intermittently this season? Or will this remain a group that is flawed in its foundations, able to win only on the strength of a powerful offence and fine goaltending? Carlyle continues to hunt for a change in course. Can he and a revamped coaching staff succeed in doing so where last years group failed? That will be the question. Authentic Steelers JerseysAuthentic Cowboys JerseysAuthentic Raiders JerseysAuthentic Chiefs JerseysAuthentic Eagles JerseysAuthentic Redskins JerseysAuthentic Falcons JerseysAuthentic Ravens JerseysAuthentic Browns JerseysAuthentic Cardinals JerseysAuthentic Bills JerseysAuthentic Panthers JerseysAuthentic Bears JerseysAuthentic Bengals JerseysAuthentic Texans JerseysAuthentic Broncos JerseysAuthentic Lions JerseysAuthentic Packers JerseysAuthentic Jets JerseysAuthentic Dolphins JerseysAuthentic Patriots JerseysAuthentic Jaguars JerseysAuthentic Titans JerseysAuthentic Chargers JerseysAuthentic Giants JerseysAuthentic Saints JerseysAuthentic Buccaneers JerseysAuthentic 49ers JerseysAuthentic Seahawks JerseysAuthentic Rams JerseysAuthentic Vikings JerseysAuthentic Colts Jerseys ' ' '