Coach Tony Popovic is confident Melbourne Victory have learned from the harsh lessons of their last two-legged semi-final ahead of facing Wellington for a spot in the A-League Men decider.
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In 2021-22, Victory earned a 1-0 lead in the first leg of their semi-final against eventual champions Western United, but lost the second leg 4-1 to crash out 4-2 on aggregate.
Victory face Wellington at AAMI Park on Sunday, then away next Saturday.
Asked what he and his charges had learned from two years ago, Popovic said: "That it lasts over two games and not one.
"We obviously learned a lot from that experience - we played two games here, home and away.
"This will be a bit different where you really do feel the away game in the second leg, with it being in New Zealand.
"But it's just about putting on a performance and knowing it lasts for two (games), but you've got to do everything you can to get an advantage in the first leg while being composed and focused and being patient as well throughout the game."
While Wellington had the week off for finishing second, Victory are coming off the incredible high of their extraordinary comeback elimination final win over Melbourne City - and hope a pumping AAMI Park can help them again.
"We don't want to lose those great positive thoughts that we got from that game," Popovic said.
"Obviously there was a lot of emotion and fantastic performance and a result under difficult circumstances.
"We want to draw on that, we don't want to just put it away. We want to use that emotion and the strength of that result and performance into this next challenge."
Playmaker Zinedine Machach is suspended for both legs after being sent off in the elimination final.
Victory have two draws and one loss against Wellington this season, with just five goals scored between the two defensive-minded teams.
"Performance-wise, definitely two of the games we played very well. We didn't get the result," Popovic said.
"So that's something we have to manage this time. We've got to do even better.
"The players are obviously in great spirits, but we're very well aware of what we're up against."
Burying chances against talented young goalkeeper Alex Paulsen will also be crucial.
"I firmly believe that if we continue to create the opportunities, that's the most important part," Popovic said.
"Then I back the boys to deliver in a big game against a formidable backline."
Australian Associated Press
