Game Day. "Metalist 1925" - "Montreal". Match #3. Winter training camp 2026
January 29, 2026, 16:00 (15:00 local time). Spain, Benaavís, La Quinta Football Center stadium. Friendly match #3. Winter training camp 2026
Watch the match broadcast on the YouTube channel "Metalist 1925" and UPL.TV.
Preparation: "Metalist 1925" has been on a training camp in Spain for the third week, this week changing the location and moving to Estepona. Mladen Bartulovich's team managed to play two friendlies. Against the Austrian "Wolfsberg", where they narrowly lost - 0:1, and against the Czech "Pardubice", with the same score.
"Montreal" played a friendly match against the Czech "Slovan" from Liberec during their training camp, losing 2:3.
Current season: "Montreal" had an unstable performance in the previous MLS season, played in a spring-fall format, which affected the team's standings. The team had good matches, but they were overshadowed by bitter defeats. In the 2025 season, the team finished 13th in the Eastern Conference standings, which prevented "Montreal" from reaching the playoffs.
Geography: the football club represents the eponymous city in the southeastern part of Canada, located in the province of Quebec and being the country's second most populous city after Toronto. Montreal is situated on the St. Lawrence River and is one of Canada's key cultural and sports centers. The city's population is approximately 1.7 million people.
Transfer market: according to the portal's version, the total value of Montreal's players is estimated at around 33 million euros. The most expensive player in the team is Ivan Jaime, who plays on loan from Porto. His value is 5 million euros.
The Montreal squad can rightfully be called international, as it includes players from different parts of the world. The team has players from Canada, the USA, France, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Haiti, and several other countries. Such geographic diversity is typical for MLS clubs. It is worth noting the presence of two Ukrainians in the squad: Hennadiy Synchuk and Ivan Losenko.
Winter transfers: during this transfer window, Montreal has been quite active in the market and has strengthened the squad with several players. The team has signed defenders Brian Vera from Real Salt Lake and Dagur Dan Thorgalsson from Orlando City, forward Daniel Rios, who joined as a free agent, as well as Argentine center-back Thomas Aviles, loaned from Inter Miami. In addition, the club has secured the loan of Ukrainian midfielder Ivan Losenko from Shakhtar Donetsk and signed young players Felix Samson and Josh Nteziryayo. There were also departures: the club parted ways with winger Dante Sealy, who moved to Colorado Rapids, ended cooperation with Fernando Alvarez, Alessandro Biello, and goalkeeper Emil Gazdov.
