Former Heineken Cup winner David Humphreys has backed Leinster to lift their second European title this season.
Humphreys, who won the Heineken Cup with Ulster back in 1999 and is now operations director at the Irish province, saw his side well beaten by this year's semi-finalists in the Magners League last weekend.
Ulster themselves made it through to the knock-out stages for the first time this season since they won the competition in 1999 but were defeated by Northampton Saints at the quarter-final stage.
And Humphreys, who scored 583 points in European action, has tipped Leinster to go all the way this year.
"It's very hard to look past Leinster," he told the Irish Independent
"If they play to their best I have no doubt they can win the Heineken Cup.
"We have looked down very enviously at what Munster and Leinster have been doing in Europe over the last couple of years and we're obviously aspiring to get back competing with them, but we're striving to be as close as possible."