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Toulouse thriving on Napoli memories

Memories of Diego Maradona, Ciro Ferrara and Fernando Di Napoli are being evoked as Toulouse FC prepare to face Liverpool FC in Wednesday's first leg.

Memories of Diego Maradona, Ciro Ferrara and Fernando Di Napoli are being evoked as Toulouse FC prepare to welcome Liverpool FC to south-west France for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie.

Napoli memories
The French side, competing in the European Champion Clubs' Cup for the first time in their 70-year history, have enjoyed only two previous seasons in UEFA club competition and the first of those campaigns, in the 1986/87 UEFA Cup, brought a debut to remember. The draw paired Toulouse with SSC Napoli. The glamorous Italian team, who would win the same tournament two years later, attracted a 34,951 crowd to Toulouse's Stadium for the second leg, which the hosts won 1-0 to take the contest into extra time and, eventually, a penalty shoot-out, where Toulouse prevailed 4-3.

Tickets selling fast
Although the home leg of the next round, against FC Spartak Moskva, was watched by more people – 35,162 – it is the Napoli match that Toulouse fans remember more fondly. The Liverpool encounter on Wednesday afternoon could yet eclipse that, however. With less than a week to go, 30,000 tickets have been sold and anticipation is mounting in the city. "It's the best draw we could have had," said Toulouse coach Elie Baup. "This will put us in the spotlight and will allow us to grow. Toulouse don't have a significant place in French football but a match like this will turn all the attention on our club. This will allow us to progress."

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