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Astrahanochka are an experienced team, there's no doubt about it, they are one of the Top 5 teams in the Russian league. But, they have also already lost the battle for the title, having lost to Zvezda twice (by 4 and 10 goals) in the two play off quarter final games. Zvezda were in position 4, while Lada ended the regular season in position 3. They were knocked out of the Russian cup, which made the EHF Cup the priority. But, I can't help to feel like they had the referees on their side the whole first half time against Lada. They had staggering 14 seven-meter throws, 4 in the first 10 minutes, Lada's players had 9 2-minute suspensions, and so on...Lada had only a few training sessions together ahead of the first leg semi final game - nine players were participating in the national team's campaign. The preparation period for this game was much better, they have a lot of players to count on, the offense is good, unlike Astrahanochka's, they have the experience necessary for such a game. And most importantly, they will have much better officials than in the first game.