The Montreal Impact will play the first leg of the Eastern Conference final against Toronto FC in front of a sold out crowd at Olympic Stadium, the club announced on Tuesday.
The Impact, who usually play at the 20,801-seat Stade Saputo, sold 61,004 tickets for the game (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at the former home of the Montreal Expos baseball team.
It marks the second time the MLS club has sold out the larger venue, following the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final against Club America in April 2015.
READ | Olympic Stadium sold out for Eastern Conference Championship >> https://t.co/0ZRK0NFxJn #IMFC #TousPourLaCoupe #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/eI7gMAQbAb
- Impact de Montréal (@impactmontreal) November 22, 2016
Olympic Stadium has been criticized for its uneven artificial turf, but Montreal forward Didier Drogba will be available to play despite ordinarily skipping games on such surfaces.
"It's true that it's not easy on this field, but it's such an important match, at the end of the season, that we have to give everything," Drogba said last week.
Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney said on Monday the turf is a factor with which both teams must contend.
"In the grand scheme of things, it is what it is," Vanney said. "I think we're done talking about it. It's now time to focus on our task, which will be in this building, with a lot of fans, on this surface. That's the way it is. We've got to accept it."
The crowd will be the second largest for an MLS playoff game behind only the 61,316 fans at the New England Revolution's Gillette Stadium for the MLS Cup final in 2002.
It will be the final game of the year in Montreal, as Toronto will host the second leg at BMO Field on Nov. 30, while the MLS Cup final will be played at the home the Western Conference winners should the Impact advance.