Montreal Impact Winning CONCACAF Wouldn't Have Altered MLS Landscape

The Montreal Impact were minutes away from a historic CONCACAF Champions League title. However, Club America showed its dominance in the final 45 minutes of the second leg in a 4-2 win in Montreal. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that MLS is still far behind Liga MX.

Even if the Impact won the Champions League, this wouldn't have done anything to boost MLS' reputation. Cynics would have labelled Montreal's triumph as "lucky" and would still say the league cannot be taken seriously.

Some of this criticism is fair. There are plenty of detriments in MLS. The low salary cap hinders teams' chances to compete in continental competitions. ESPN FC's Doug McIntyre claims that America's wages are 10 times higher than Montreal's.

The squad rotation from both sides showed the vast difference in salary. Right-backs Hassoun Camara and Victor Cabrera were injured; plus Eric Miller was inexperienced, so midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker had to start on the right side of defense.

Following goalkeeper Evan Bush's suspension, the Impact had to sign Kristian Nicht from Indy Eleven of the NASL. The team had to acquire Nicht because backup Eric Kronberg was cup-tied and third-choice Maxime Crepeau was recovering from injury.

The Impact squad as a whole isn't the greatest on paper, either. Besides Ignacio Piatti and Laurent Ciman, there aren't any notable names or designated players in Montreal's squad.

Reo-Coker is an ex-Premier League midfielder, and Marco Donadel barely played in Serie A after leaving Fiorentina. MLS journeymen Dominic Oduro and Dilly Duka as well as a relatively inexperienced Donny Toia were also in the starting XI.

This is a decent MLS roster with depth, but it's nowhere near good enough to compete against the most successful Mexican club of all time.

By comparison, America has two regular call-ups for Mexico in Paul Aguilar and Oribe Peralta. Ventura Alvarado, a U.S. international, is also a starter for Las Aguilas. Dario Benedetto is the team's second-best goalscorer, and the dynamic Darwin Quintero are just a few of the marquee members.

Ventura, Peralta and Paolo Goltz didn't even start the first leg against the Impact. Pablo Aguilar and Erik Pimentel slotted into the heart of the defense, with Michael Arroyo replacing Peralta up front.

Manager Gustavo Matosas was able to make these like-for-like changes because his team can buy players in a free market with no salary cap.

Matosas utilized his deep squad to his advantage, which is necessary in these competitions. U.S. international Herculez Gomez said as much on Twitter:

Despite having the superior roster, America was average at the Azteca and slow coming out of the gate in Montreal. However, Los Millonetas dominated from the 50th to 81st minute in the second leg and still cruised to victory.

If Montreal won, MLS may have been persuaded that its teams can compete in the Champions League on a lower budget than the Liga MX clubs. This series proved the opposite.

On paper, the Impact were huge underdogs against Pachuca, but if it wasn't for Cameron Porter's late goal, Los Tuzos would have advanced. The Impact became just the second MLS team to defeat a Mexican side in the knockout stage, per the official league website. 

However, Montreal barely edged past Alajuelense in the semis after it almost blew a 2-0 lead from the first leg. The Impact were close to elimination, but it also shows how incredible their run was as they were able to hold on in the tough atmosphere in Costa Rica.

The odds of this type of run occurring again are low. The league office must realize that it can't compete with Liga MX under the current system, which U.S. international Alejandro Bedoya stated on Twitter: 

If MLS wants to become a top league by 2022, as MLS commissioner Don Garber told ESPN.com, it not only has to raise the salary cap, but it also has to become more transparent and improve the TV ratings. The latter is arguably the most important aspect, because that generates more revenue.

This will lead to teams acquiring better players who will be able to achieve consistent results in the CONCACAF Champions League. For now, that isn't a realistic option.

Peter Galindo covers MLS and U.S. soccer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @GalindoPW.