History will be made at the weekend when two all-French quarter-finals will take place across the country's southern border in Spain.

On Saturday Perpignan will play host to Toulon in the Catalan heartland of Barcelona, while on Sunday Biarritz host defending champions Stade Toulousain in the Basque fortress of San Sebastian.

The latter match is a re-run of last season's final, which Toulouse won 21-19 in Paris, while the former sees the debut of top level European club rugby played in Barcelona.

Perpignan president Paul Goze has long harboured ambitions of forging a meaningful link between his club and football giants Barcelona FC, but this match will be played at the city's Olympic Stadium (cap 55,000) rather than at the iconic Camp Nou.

That, however, will not detract from a match that will is being hugely anticipated throughout Catalonia, with Toulon bringing their all-star squad and thousands of supporters to the city to add colour, noise and glamour to the occasion.

Over in San Sebastian, meanwhile, Biarritz are gearing up for revenge against the continent's most successful club at the impressive Estadio Anoeta, home to Real Sociedad football club.

Heineken Cup 2010/11 Results and Tables

Both Biarritz and Basque neighbours Bayonne have relocated 'home' matches to this ground in recent seasons, with Biarritz having especially fond memories of the stadium after winning there last season in both the quarters (against Ospreys 29-28) and semis (against Munster 18-7). They also thrashed Bayonne there 40-10 two weeks ago in the most recent Basque derby.

They will certainly need to be at their best to overcome Stade Toulousain, with the four times champions arriving as current league leaders in Top 14 and off the back of their 25-24 away win at Perpignan. And all that despite missing injured skipper Thierry Dusautoir and resting the likes of Vincent Clerc, William Servat and Maxime Médard. Biarritz also took the opportunity to rest players last weekend, but their lack of commitment against Clermont Auvergne was palpable as they were trounced 41-13 by the current French champions.

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The Basque coaching staff admitted they had miscalculated in both their team selection and build up to that loss, but there will be no need for extra motivation come 17.30 on Sunday as Serge Blanco's beloved Biarritz continue their quest for a maiden Heineken Cup trophy. Twice they have reached the final and lost - in 2006 and 2010 - so it continues to be the Holy Grail for a side which has shown greater consistency this season (that Clermont defeat aside).

Biarritz do have undoubted match-winners in their ranks, with the likes of American speedster Takudzwa Ngwenya (five tries in the competition this season) and England World Cup winner Iain Balshaw (four tries) both capable of scoring from nothing.

They also have the metronomic boot of France scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili (65 pts in the HC this season) to keep the scoreboard ticking over, while fellow French international Damien Traille is capable of knocking over opportunistic drop-goals from just about anywhere in the opponents' half.

Heineken Cup 2010/11 Leading Scorers

On top of that they have club captain and totem Imanol Harinordoquy, the back row giant who would run through the proverbial brick wall to help his team to victory. Last season he and Traille were hamstrung by injuries as the Heineken Cup reached its climax, but both are fit and raring to go this time around.

Traille believes that last year's final loss will give Biarritz extra incentive to triumph on Sunday. "We saw how much more experienced they are to handle those big events than us and this time round we will look to measure up to them a bit better and pose them problems," he told erc.com.

"Each season our objective is to host a quarter-final at home and this year we succeeded again. We are lucky to be able to play at Anoeta where we get a tremendous support, and where we can feel a real passion in the week leading up to the game. People enjoy travelling to San Sebastian to spend a great day not only at the rugby but in the city. There support will be massive and potentially decisive for us, especially against Toulouse because the game will be extremely tough," he added.

Traille admitted that facing up to Toulouse was a daunting but exciting prospect. "They are a reference both in Europe and in our domestic league, their players are notoriously good and their game is slick. We'll have to make a massive effort, be extremely precise in what we do and very committed if we want to impose our game upon them. Toulouse don't have many weak points so it is up to us to be sharp and thorough. It will most definitely be a massive challenge for us.

"We would have liked to face another team but the results of the draw were such that we got Toulouse. Winning against them would be a great performance," admitted Traille.

"It's been a long time that Biarritz Olympique have been hoping to get our hands on the European title. We've been lucky enough to experience becoming French champions but as a competitor you always dream of getting more, so it is true that the Heineken Cup would be an essential element for Biarritz.

"I think this club deserves European recognition. Out of the 11 seasons Biarritz have played in the tournament the club has reached eight quarter-finals, which must mean something. What we need is that little extra that great teams have to win the title," he said.

Whether that "little extra" will come against Toulouse on Sunday remains to be seen, but Biarritz will surely never have a better opportunity to topple arguable the best club team in the whole of Europe.