14.03.2008, 02:55
History repeats?

Lada Togliatti would reach the semi-finals with a home victory. In this case they will meet Hypo, just as they did last year.

History repeats?

The fourth CL semi-finalist in the women’s competition will be known on Saturday. The odds are in favour of Lada Togliatti, but Oltchim Valcea can also go through.

Decisive matches for Gumyanov

Just before the decisive match against Nűrnberg, Gumyanov’s team had a test match in Togliatti. Lada welcomed Kuban Krasnodar on Wednesday, in the 21st round of the Russian Championship. The match ended with a clear victory of the home team – 38:28 (19:13). The best players in Lada were Klimova with 8 goals from 10 attempts and Konstantinova with 15 saves (35%).

“I tried to give a rest to my most important players, because they are all very tired after the trip to Győr. That was the reason we could not win by more at the end. But the most important thing is that we won and that my best players could take a break,” said the Russian coach.

Alexey Gumyanov is doing a great job in Togliatti. His team are leading in the Russian championship with two points of advantage in front of Zvezda Zvenigorod. Their next match in the Russian league will be the big derby, Zvezda Zvenigorod vs Lada Togliatti. This encounter may decide the Russian champion.

Lada need victory

Lada and Nűrnberg will play just before the Oltchim match, so the Russians will have to go for a victory no matter what.

As Lada have 6 points and Oltchim have 5, only a win against Nűrnberg can take Lada Togliatti into the semis – without worrying about the match in Valcea.

If Lada make a draw, then Russians can still reach the semis with Oltchim not beating Győr. Otherwise the Romanians go to semis.

If Lada lose, the only hope for the Russians would be Oltchim losing too.

The first match played in Nűrnberg ended with a 39:31 for the Russians. Now Gumyanov gave rest to his most important players and most probably his team will not have problems against the German team in Togliatti either. But, with Herbert Műller you never know...

History repeating?

Last season, the Russians played the best CL season in their history. Lada played the CL finals after defeating Hypo in the semi-finals. If Lada manage to go on, their opponent would be Hypo once again.

The match Lada Togliatti vs Nűrnberg will be played on Saturday at 17:00 hours. The referees will be Argyrou and Loizou from Cyprus.

TEXT: Ivan Ambros