All-French battle not decided yet, both coaches agree

Seven goals is usually a gap that cannot be erased easily in European competitions. Still, having been defeated 24:31 in the first leg game of the Women's Challeng Cup Semi-final, Mios coach Manu Mayonnade is still hopeful his girls can do something about it .

"In basic maths, this gap means we've got to take one goal back every nine minutes. We'll have to remain coherent while putting some madness in this game.

But while we're at statistics, let's not forget one thing. Tomorrow, we'll be playing against a team we haven't beaten three times this season. And in this game, we'll have to beat them by seven units. That's how hard our task is," he said.

And while Mios played the first leg without a right winger Sabrina Civiatti due to a knee injury she suffered last week.

"We knew from the beginning that her injury would be serious. She won't be playing here anymore, and I'm sure she would have liked to go a different way," Mayonnade.

But while the prognostics would say that Issy-Paris is nearly in the final, Arnaud Gandais, the team coach, is quick to calm the enthusiasm.

“We're halfway there, by as usual, the second part of the way is the most dangerous," he says.

"Besides, our games against Mios are never easy. We played equal during 45 minutes of the first game, because we played at a level inferior to what is required in European competitions. There's nothing sure about our performance, we've showed that earlier in the season."

The club, which took part in last year's Cup Winners' Cup final, has now the experience of continental battles, and intends to prove it.

In the first leg, both teams were even at 18:18, before Mios unbelievably lost its momentum.

"I still don't know what happened" explains Manu Mayonnade. "We lost our game, and of course, we payed it cash."

Never in the last seven seasons has a team been able to make up for a seven goals difference.

But in a hot as hell hall on Friday night, Mios want to be the first ones to do it.

"We'll play 100% no matter what. If we have to get out of the competition, we'd rather make the most of it. We certainly won't go on the court heads down. We've won the competition in 2011, and we'll make everything to know such a pleasure again."