CF Montreal begin the post-Laurent Courtois era with a visit to the Chicago Fire on Saturday, and they are determined to give interim boss Marco Donadel every chance to succeed.
Montreal sacked Courtois after just over a season in charge on Monday, with the club propping up the Eastern Conference standings with one point from five games.
They have lost their last four in a row, culminating in a 3-0 defeat at Nashville SC last Saturday.
Courtois’ assistant Marco Donadel will step up to lead the team on an interim basis, and chief executive Gabriel Gervais says the Italian has the club’s full backing.
“We’ve been thinking about it for about four weeks now,” Gervais said of Montreal’s change in the dugout. “It’s not so much the results, it’s more the performances we’ve been seeing.
“We saw a team lacking cohesion with frustrated players and a lack of fighting spirit at times, so we felt now was the time to do it.
“We’re going to give Marco Donadel every chance to succeed. For the moment, it’s an interim situation. We’re going to give Marco a chance in the short term.”
L’entraîneur-chef par intérim Marco Donadel au travail
Interim Head Coach Marco Donadel in action #CFMTL pic.twitter.com/dg2Xjg2fWz
— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) March 28, 2025
Opponents Chicago have won three straight regular-season matches for the first time since July 2023, while they last won four in a row between June and July in 2017.
Former United States coach Gregg Berhalter has overseen a dramatic improvement in the Fire’s fortunes, with his team taking 10 points from their first five matches of 2025.
Midfielder Kellyn Acosta said of Berhalter: “He’s definitely made some enormous strides just to our whole environment and organisation.
“I think we made some positive changes in the offseason. He’s a testament to that; a lot of credit goes to him from getting the right personnel around him.
“It’s a great feeling within the group. I think guys are really buying in. They like Gregg a lot, and it’s been positive all around.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chicago Fire – Hugo Cuypers
Cuypers has scored in four straight regular-season matches for the second time in his Fire career, also doing so between May and June 2023.
Only two players in Fire history have found the net in five straight regular-season matches – Robert Beric in 2020 and David Accam in 2017.
CF Montreal – Prince Owusu
Montreal have failed to score in their last four regular-season matches, equalling the longest run of league games without a goal in their MLS history (four straight in 2018 and 2023).
The last team to go five straight MLS matches without a goal was Chicago, who did so from August to September 2023.
Owusu has had seven shots worth 2.52 expected goals (xG) in MLS this season but has only scored one goal. He will look to rediscover his form in front of goal here.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Chicago have won their last two home matches against Montreal, their third two-match home winning streak in the clubs’ head-to-head series.
The Fire have never won three straight home matches against Montreal before, though.
Montreal’s one point through five matches equals their worst start to a season in club history, along with their first MLS campaign in 2012.
Montreal have never collected fewer than three points from their first six matches of a season before, and they face a tough test against a Chicago team in good form, but might a new-manager bounce help them earn something?
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Chicago Fire – 39.6%
CF Montreal – 33.8%
Draw – 26.6%
