A year ago, Leinster flew the flag for the Guinness PRO14 in the European Champions Cup final as they looked to lift the trophy for the first time in six years.

And Leo Cullen’s side duly delivered – a Johnny Sexton-inspired victory against Racing 92 in Bilbao brought glory to the Irish outfit.

As the reigning European Champions Cup holders prepare to do battle with Saracens in what should be a pulsating final, it’s worth taking a look at the last time these two sides met.

April 2018 – Leinster 30-19 Saracens

Regardless of their European success the previous season, Saracens were the underdog coming into their quarter-final clash with Leinster in the 2017-18 Champions Cup.

Mark McCall’s men had scraped through the pool stages, having only won three of their six games and just pipping fellow Premiership sides Wasps and Exeter Chiefs to a quarter-final berth.

Leinster, on the other hand, cruised through Pool 3 with six wins out of six.

It was never going to be easy, however, but Garry Ringrose finished an electric move from deep to put the home side ahead after just four minutes.

James Lowe had the better of Liam Williams on the wing before he offloaded to Isa Nacewa, whose neat set-up allowed Ringrose to cross comfortably.

McCall’s team were never going to take a loss lying down, however, and they took the sting out of a raucous Aviva Stadium as they dominated the remainder of the first half.

With 64 per cent possession and 67 per cent territory, it was only dogged defence from the hosts that kept Sarries out before the whistle blew.

Four accurate penalties – three from Owen Farrell and the other from Marcelo Bosch – kept the visitors in contention as Sexton notched a couple of his own to give Leinster a 13-12 lead at the break.

But Cullen clearly worked his magic at half-time as man-of-the-match Dan Leavy extended Leinster’s lead shortly after the restart.

The flanker – who was phenomenal throughout the 80 minutes as he completed 14 tackles, beat four defenders and added 82 metres and three clean breaks – played a deft one-two with James Ryan before finding a gap to dot down.

With the wind out of the Premiership side’s sails, it took a brilliant team effort from Leinster – one that exemplified their brilliance on both ends of the field – to allow James Lowe to cross on the hour and put the game to bed.

Blair Cowan gave the briefest glimpse of hope to a tiring Saracens’ side as he scored following a line-out drive but Leinster’s discipline proved too robust.

With another convincing win in the semi-finals against fellow Guinness PRO14 outfit Scarlets, Leinster were to pick up their ninth win on the bounce in the competition as they edged out Racing 92 to lift the coveted trophy.