2023 European Rugby Champions Cup final

For the first time both finalists from a Champions Cup final returned to the following year's final. La Rochelle became the third team after Toulouse (2003-05) and Toulon (2013-15) to appear in three successive finals, while Leinster, for the second year, attempted to match Toulouse's outright record of five European Champions Cups. This was also the first final since 2011 that matched the top two seeds after the pool stage in the showpiece final.

Both Leinster and La Rochelle entered the final in similar form, with both teams having won every game in their European campaign. They both topped their respective pool, with Leinster gaining a maximum of 20 points and La Rochelle gaining 18. They both received home advantage through the knock-out stage, before gaining home country advantage in the semi-final to see them though to the final.

This was their third meeting in the Champions Cup, with La Rochelle winning both the previous encounters.

Their domestic form saw Leinster enter having lost their United Rugby Championship semi-final the week prior, whilst La Rochelle entered having secured a top two seed in the Top 14 with one round left of the regular season.

Both teams announced their match-day 23 the day before the game and Leinster had two changes to the starting XV that played in the 2022 Final, whilst La Rochelle had seven changes to the team that played in that final.

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Leinster		Round	La Rochelle
Opponent	Result	Pool stage	Opponent	Result
Racing 92	10–42 (A)	Matchday 1	Northampton Saints	46–12 (H)
Gloucester	57–0 (H)	Matchday 2	Ulster	29–36 (A)
Gloucester	14–49 (A)	Matchday 3	Ulster	7–3 (H)
Racing 92	36–10 (H)	Matchday 4	Northampton Saints	13–31 (A)
		Final standings
Pool A Top 4 Team P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts Leinster 4 4 0 0 184 34 +150 28 5 4 0 20 Exeter Chiefs 4 3 0 1 139 68 +71 20 8 4 0 16 Sharks 4 3 0 1 119 89 +30 15 11 3 0 15 Saracens 4 3 0 1 120 94 +26 15 11 2 1 15 Pool B Top 4 Team P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts La Rochelle 4 4 0 0 120 57 +63 15 7 2 0 18 Toulouse 4 4 0 0 110 53 +57 12 7 1 0 17 Stormers 4 3 0 1 106 68 +38 13 7 3 0 15 Leicester Tigers 4 3 0 1 116 89 +27 11 10 1 1 14
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
Ulster	30–15 (H)	Round of 16	Gloucester	29–26 (H)
Leicester	55–24 (H)	Quarter-finals	Saracens	24–10 (H)
Toulouse	41–22 (H)	Semi-finals	Exeter	47–28 (H)