When two rivals meet everything else goes out the window.

Toronto FC will welcome CF Montreal to BMO Field on Saturday night for the third clash between the two Canadian clubs this season.

“It’s a derby, so aside from everything that is happening in both clubs’ seasons, both teams want to win that game,” levelled Jonathan Osorio during Friday’s prematch Zoom call. “Then, of course, they're fighting for a playoff spot, every game is important for them, every point is important for them, so they're going to bring in a lot of energy and a lot of fight.”

“We have to match that, or bring more – that’s the only way to give yourself a chance in these games. We want to beat them. We always want to beat them, no matter what,” he continued. “It's a special match. Stakes are pretty high for them and we would love to hurt their chances to make the playoffs. We want to win for us, for the fans. This is a big match.”

Montreal enter the match in sixth-place in the Eastern Conference, one of five teams separated by three points competing for three spots heading into the final few weeks of the campaign.

Meetings between the two are always at their best when the stakes are high, circumstances this season have conspired against a really competitive derby clash.

The first was a midday match in the Florida heat on April 17, the opening match of the season for both clubs where Montreal won 4-2 and the second featured an early red card to Noble Okello resulting in a 3-1 Montreal victory at Stade Saputo on August 27.

“The first game was in Miami in the beginning of the season,” recalled Osorio. “We had just played a midweek game against Leon. It was a midday game, we had a few injuries and they played better. We got off to a little bit of a slow start.”

“And then in the second game we put ourselves in a hole going down a man and conceding shortly after,” he continued. “We fought back in that game and then they came back and scored.”

Said Javier Perez: “Every time we played them it was a difficult game.”

“The first one we struggled, but in Montreal we lost immediately Noble in that game and still we managed to have a good game,” he highlighted. “In the second half, it was more difficult – they brought on new players, [one of the them in particular, Romell] Quioto really changed the game.”

Added to those two wins this season, Montreal also won their last visit to Toronto, last September behind closed doors, by a 1-0 scoreline with Rudy Camacho scoring the only goal.

Regardless, wipe the slate clean, it’s derby day.

“Those games are in the past and this is a new game,” stressed Osorio. “Those two games are not going to have anything to do with what happens tomorrow.”

There are no secrets between these two. TFC know what to expect from Wilfried Nancy’s side.

“They play in a 5-2-3. With [Djordje] Mihailovic they have quality up top. [Joaquin] Torres as well, left-footed. They rotate a little bit the number 9 position,” outlined Perez. “The two in the middle – [Victor] Wanyama, [Samuel] Piette – they have control in the middle and [Emanuel] Maciel comes in.”

“Their strength is at the back, with the back three and then the two wing-backs, [Zachary] Brault-Guillard and [Mathieu] Choiniere. They are doing a good job. [Zorhan] Bassong comes in the picture sometimes,” he detailed. “[Montreal] base their game on being very solid defensively and then [they] have a good transition based on the ability of Mihailovic controlling the ball.”

Having entered the international break on a good run of four games unbeaten in MLS play and five in all competitions, Toronto have lost two since play resumed – 2-0 at home against Atlanta United last weekend and 3-0 away to Inter Miami CF on Wednesday.

Perez wants to see his side bounce back from those disappointments and turn performances into results.

“We are going to have to be good at home. We’re going to have to have control of the ball, control of the game, like in most of the past few games and then, hopefully, this time we can capitalize,” urged the coach. “We didn’t have enough opportunities in the last game against Miami but we did in the game before at home [against Atlanta], we hit the crossbar. Hopefully this time we are the team scoring first and we place ourselves in a better position to get the three points.”

With four league games left and a Canadian Championship semifinal against Pacific FC ahead, the season is far from over.

“I want to see this team fight, fight for the club,” replied Osorio, asked what he wanted to see from this group going forward. “I care for this club; a lot of people care here. We're disappointed with how the season has gone, of course, it sucks, but every game we want to represent, I want to represent the club in the best way possible and represent our fans in the best way possible.”

“Every game I want us to fight and try and win games. At this point, we have to keep going for it, keep going for wins and trying to play in the best way possible, getting the young guys in, getting them chances and giving them confidence,” he continued. “And also the Canadian Championship is still up for grabs, so we have that to look forward to. We have to use these games to get ready for [that] game.”

“There's still something worth playing for,” Osorio closed. “We have to keep going and represent this club in the way that it should be represented."