'Epic' - what Toulouse's head coach told his players that inspired Liverpool victory

Head coach Carles Martinez Novell hailed a historic night after Toulouse shocked Liverpool in the Europa League.

Les Violets side suffered a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of the Reds at Anfield only two weeks ago. And sitting 14th in Ligue 1, few gave them a chance in the reverse fixture in the south of France.

Yet Toulouse ran out 3-2 winners - and were full value for all three points as Liverpool's lead at the summit of Group A was slashed to two points. The home side took the lead in the 36th minute through Aron Donnum before Thijs Dallinga doubled the advantage in the 58th minute. While the Reds were given a lifeline through Cristian Casseres' 73rd-minute own goal, Frank Magri restored Toulouse's two-goal advantage three minutes later.

Diogo Jota notched off the bench for Jurgen Klopp's side with a minute remaining and then Jarell Quansah thought he grabbed an equaliser in stoppage-time but it was chalked off following a VAR review.

And after the Anfield reverse, Novell was convinced that home advantage would prove key for Toulouse. He said: "It's a historic evening. Historic for the club, the city, the players. We have to appreciate this moment as it should be. We said to ourselves that we had to believe in it. It was the first condition to start balance the debates.

"We experienced something very strong as soon as we arrived with the bus. It's a moment that we will remember for a very long time. When we lost there, I told the players that we had the means to compete at home. We learned a lot from this defeat there. This third goal which was finally canceled for Liverpool allows us to make this evening even more epic. We must continue on this path because I know my players are capable of reproducing this kind of performance, he confided to the press."