Zürich keen to prove continental class

FC Zürich will look to underline their coach's contention that they "can hold their own at international level" as they meet Toulouse FC in Group E.

• Zürich are still on top in Group E despite not playing on Matchday 2. A 2-1 win against AC Sparta Praha on Matchday 1 sees them go into their game level with FC Spartak Moskva, who also won their only game to date 2-1.

• Bernard Challandes said of that win in Prague: "My team showed a great deal of courage to battle their way back into the game. We proved that we can hold our own at international level."

• Challandes will not be in the dugout after being suspended for one UEFA Cup match by the UEFA Disciplinary Body, and his striker Eric Hassli for three, for gross unsporting conduct in the victory at Sparta.

• The next yellow card received by Zürich's Almen Abdi will result in a one-match suspension, while the same fate awaits Toulouse pair Albin Ebondo and Fodé Mansare.

• Toulouse are the only team in the section yet to earn a point. They lost 1-0 at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in their opening game and then went down 3-2 at home against Sparta in their most recent outing. That latter match represented their first home defeat in the UEFA Cup.

• French striker Alexandre Alphonse signed a new three-year extension to his deal with Zürich after scoring the winner against Sparta, committing to the club until 2012. Coach Challandes said: "We believe we'll have plenty of success together in the future."

• Toulouse are yet to win a game in European competition this season. Knocked out of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round following two defeats by Liverpool FC, they reached the UEFA Cup group stage by beating PFC CSKA Sofia on away goals.

• The two sides have never met in UEFA club competition, with neither side encountering clubs from their opposing countries either.

• Toulouse coach Elie Baup led his FC Girondins de Bordeaux side in a two-legged UEFA Cup tie against Zürich's neighbours Grasshopper-Club in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup. His team prevailed on away goals, drawing 3-3 in Switzerland and 0-0 in France.

• Zürich are unbeaten in their last eight UEFA club competition home games (including qualifying), a run stretching back to a 2-1 defeat by KRC Genk in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup first round.

• Toulouse have not won in their last four European away games – a sequence going back over 20 years to a 1-0 UEFA Cup win at Panionios GSS in September 1987.