The Champions Cup delivered again as 14-man Toulouse stunningly overcame French rivals Racing 22-21 at the Paris La Defense Arena to move into the semi-finals.

Zack Holmes was dismissed for a dangerous tackle on the hosts’ wing Juan Imhoff midway through the first half, but it did not affect Les Rouge et Noir, who went 19-10 in front at the interval.

They were utterly outstanding, almost reminiscent of the great Toulouse sides from yesteryear, as their free-flowing game plan saw them touch down three times via Antoine Dupont (twice) and Maxime Medard.

The Top 14 league leaders were less potent after the interval but were resilient in defence and only allowed Maxime Machenaud to add a pair of three-pointers.

Thomas Ramos then took Toulouse further ahead and it proved to be enough, despite Camille Chat crossing the whitewash for Racing in the latter stages. Machenaud was unable to add a difficult conversion and Les Rouge et Noir held on for a memorable triumph.

Although this result was perhaps not a surprise, given the respective teams’ domestic form, it was thought that home advantage and European experience would count in the Parisians’ favour.

This is a relatively young Toulouse outfit and, as they showed by succumbing to Leinster in January, there is still plenty of development needed, but their progress has been stark.

Ugo Mola’s men were magnificent throughout the opening 40 minutes and deservedly went ahead after good work from Lucas Tauzin, who had been a late replacement for the injured Yoann Huget, allowed Dupont to scamper over.

Tauzin was an influential figure early on but he could only watch as the home side went ahead. Firstly, Machenaud kicked a penalty before Finn Russell intercepted a stray and sent Teddy Thomas across the whitewash.

Buoyed by that score, Racing increased the intensity, but they were met by a stubborn rearguard. However, unfortunately for Holmes, it was slightly too aggressive as his shoulder connected with the neck of Imhoff, leading to a red card.

Unperturbed, Mola’s charges reset and put the hosts under duress. That pressure led to Thomas being sin-binned for a cynical infringement and, without the wing on the field, the Parisians conceded twice.

Both were well worked but the first was particularly special. Once again Tauzin was to the fore, delivering a magical off-load to Sofiane Guitoune, before the centre found Medard and the France international finished excellently.

Matters then worsened for Racing when a brilliant Toulouse counter-attack force them to yield a five-metre scrum and Dupont displayed wonderful footwork and strength to increase their buffer to nine points at the interval.

Despite being down to 14 men, Les Rouge et Noir were the better side, but that changed in the second period. Whether it was sheer tiredness or an improvement by last season’s finalists, they didn’t quite have the same energy in attack. Toulouse were exceptional in defence, though, and limited their opponents to a brace of Machenaud penalties.

Those efforts went rewarded as a mistake presented the visitors with an opportunity to counter and Imhoff panicked, lying on the wrong side and giving referee Luke Pearce, who had a superb game, an easy decision.

With the Argentine spending 10 minutes off the field, Ramos kicked the resultant penalty and it looked as though they were set for a semi-final place.

There was further drama, however, when Chat barged over, but Machenaud missed the conversion and Toulouse deservedly made it through to the last four, where they will have a rematch with Leinster.