Wellington Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano admits his wish has been granted with Melbourne Victory's emergence as their opponents for their A-League semi-final.
Despite playing with just 10 men for most of the contest, the Victory have prevailed in a penalty shootout against rivals Melbourne City, setting up a showdown with the Phoenix over two legs for a place in the final.
To put it lightly, the Victory's home ground of AAMI Park hasn't been a happy haunting ground for the Phoenix. They last won there in 2017, when Shane Smeltz engineered a 3-0 victory.
Since then, 20 visits across seven years have gone winless, but Italiano is unfazed by that abysmal track record.
"Eventually, the odds will tip in our favour," said Italiano. "I'm kind of hoping it's Sunday, but it's a very hard place to go.
"In the back of my mind, in terms of experience, they're the one club that I wanted to play in a semi-final at AAMI.
"Their fans make for an electric atmosphere and if we have a good travelling contingent as well, it'll be a great feel, a great experience for the boys.
"Let's hope we can get three points there."
The first leg at Melbourne will be played on Sunday, with the second leg taking place at Wellington's Sky Stadium on May 18.
Italiano says a different approach is required, when it comes competing over two legs, as opposed to a one-off elimination.
"I think the dynamic without the away goals is very important, because that's no longer a factor and it's on aggregate. "At some stage, either team has to go for the game and I think that means that we can be a little bit more adventurous away from home, because the goal will be very important.
"Obviously, we'll have the advantage coming back at home, playing in front of the home crowd, so if we can get anything out of that game in terms of either scoring or even a result, it puts us in a really good position."
On the other side of the draw, Premiers Plate winners Central Coast Mariners will play Sydney FC, after the Sydneysiders beat Macarthur 4-0.
Italiano admits the challenge now lies in ensuring his players are prepared for the pressure-cooker environment of high stakes playoffs football - a challenge he's wholeheartedly confident they're ready for.
"I always said that the season is about consistency and the playoffs is more about pressure, but I think one thing from our guys is that all year they've been playing with that pressure or that stigma that we're not going to have a good season.
"The group has a real belief and a real spirit that they can overcome any situation. I think that kind of bodes well for the semi-final environment, that every game means something.
"All the training we've done all year is really specified towards those moments where everything's about pressure, something on the line.
"Hopefully we can carry that, into these next two games."
Join Newshub at 6pm Sunday for live updates of the Phoenix v Victory A-League semi-final
