Saints discover their route to the Investec Champions Cup final

Phil Dowson's men finished top of Pool 3 thanks to victories against Castres, Vodacom Bulls and Munster, who were beaten 34-32 in a thriller at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.

And that means that not only will Saints have home advantage in the round of 16, they would also have it in the quarter-finals should they make it that far.

If they do reach the last-eight, they would host the winner of Castres Olympique's home round of 16 tie against Benetton Rugby on the weekend of April 11/12/13.

Standing in Saints' way in the semi-finals if they were able to get there would be one of Leinster, Harlequins, Glasgow Warriors or Leicester Tigers.

Leinster will be the big favourites to reach the final four as they have home advantage against Quins in the last-16 and then home advantage again in the quarter-finals.

Saints lost 20-17 to Leinster in the semi-final at Croke Park last season and they would again have to travel to Ireland should both they and Leinster get to the final four.

Saints have plenty of history against all of their possible opponents on the road to this season's showpiece, which will be played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where the black, green and gold lost to Leinster in the 2011 Heineken Cup final.

Saints have played round of 16 opponents Clermont in European knockout matches twice during the past decade, losing at Stade Marcel Michelin on both occasions.

They were beaten 37-5 in the Champions Cup quarter-finals in April 2015 and lost 61-38 in the Challenge Cup last eight in March 2019.

However, Saints did claim a memorable home win against Clermont in the Champions Cup pool stages in January 2018.

Round of 16 - April 4/5/6

R16 1: Union Bordeaux-Bègles (1) v Ulster Rugby (16)

R16 2: Leinster Rugby (2) v Harlequins (15)

R16 3: Northampton Saints (3) v ASM Clermont Auvergne (14)

R16 4: RC Toulon (4) v Saracens (13)

R16 5: Stade Toulousain (5) v Sale Sharks (12)

R16 6: Castres Olympique (6) v Benetton Rugby (11)

R16 7: Glasgow Warriors (7) v Leicester Tigers (10)

R16 8: Stade Rochelais (8) v Munster Rugby (9)

NB The clubs ranked numbers 1 to 8 will have home venue advantage

Quarter-finals - April 11/12/13

QF 1: Winner R16 1 v Winner R16 8

QF 2: Winner R16 2 v Winner R16 7

QF 3: Winner R16 3 v Winner R16 6

QF 4: Winner R16 4 v Winner R16 5

NB The highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home venue advantage

Semi-finals - May 2/3/4

SF 1: Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 4

SF 2: Winner QF 2 v Winner QF 3

NB The matches will be played in Europe and where relevant the highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home country advantage

2025 Investec Champions Cup final: Saturday, May 24: Principality Stadium, Cardiff (2.45pm local time)