There was plenty of criticism after Toulouse's heavy 5-1 defeat in Liverpool on Matchday 3, with many predicting that the French club would not be able to bounce back - but bounce back was exactly what Martinez Novell's charges did in Toulouse on Thursday night.

"We learned a lot in Liverpool," explained Martinez Novell in his post-match presser. "After the defeat, I told the players that they might think I was crazy, but I was sure it wasn't a tactical problem, just a question of detail. I told them we could do better at home."

A rough night for Liverpool... and the naysayers

With Aron Dønumm (36') and Thijs Dallinga (58') doing their best to make their coach's words come true by putting Toulouse 2-0 up by the hour-mark, the home side would have killed the match off completely had Dallinga and Niklas Schmidt not both had goals ruled out for an offensive foul and an off-side respectively.

There was a small bump in the road when Toulouse defender Cristian Casseres Jr got Liverpool back in the game with an unfortunate own-goal off his shoulder (74'), but normal service (!) was resumed two minutes later when Frank Magri popped up in the box to make it 3-1after Caoimhin Kelleher could only parry Gabriel Suazo's effort into the path of the TFC's current league top scorer (76').

It really was crazy!

Nonetheless, there was still plenty of drama left, with Liverpool's Diogo Jota striking to make it 3-2 (89') before Jarell Quansah seemingly levelled it up at the very end of injury time (90'+7!), lashing home after a protracted goal-mouth scramble - but the goal was ruled out for a hand-ball by Alexis Mac Allister in the lead-up and Toulouse got their fairytale win!

"It was crazy," said Martinez Novell. "We also scored two disallowed goals, which added to the epic nature of the evening. What can I say? It's just incredible. It's well deserved for the club, for the city. It's a good message to keep believing and putting our ideas into practice."

Which is exactly what Le Téfécé will be looking to do when they travel to Lille to take on LOSC in their Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 12 clash at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Sunday (15:00 CET).

With Rennes and Marseille also clocking wins on Matchday 4, Toulouse are part of a continental revival that has France on track to reclaim fifth place on the UEFA Country coefficient chart.