The Ireland international has featured 79 times in the competition, helping Leinster secure the title in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2018.

Ahead of tonight’s showdown with Stade Rochelais in Marseille, Sexton said Leinster’s four-year European trophy drought is a testament to the tournament’s immense quality.

“It’s incredibly tough, it’s tough every year,” he said. “I admit at the start when we won it, when we had a period of success, we won three and four, and you think ‘this is easy’.

“And then you go away and you don’t have it for so long, and then you have so many tough days, you get so close at times. Semi-finals recently, finals. It just proves how hard it is.

“Teams come out of nowhere, you look at La Rochelle and what they’ve done over the last few years.

“It gets tougher and tougher every year. The likes of Racing [92] still yet to win their first and they’ll come back strong. It’s an incredible competition, no matter what the format.

“It’s the same as a Test match. The atmosphere will be the same. It actually could be more than an international [in terms of] the atmosphere, in terms of the La Rochelle support, they’re fantastic.”

Despite his vast experience, Sexton admitted that he still feels pre-match nerves ahead of such an occasion, though he is now able to manage them better.

He said: “You’d think when you get a little bit older, you’d be a bit more relaxed. I think it’s been the opposite. When it’s your second-last chance to win this, it puts a bit more pressure on.

“The good thing is you learn how to deal with it. As a build-up to a huge game is, it’s nervous, it’s exciting in the same way. It’s tough at times, you torture yourself sometimes in the build-up but hopefully it’ll all be worth it come kick off.”

The game in Marseille kicks off at 16:45 (UK & Irish time) and will be available to watch on BT Sport, Channel 4, Virgin Media, beIN SPORTS, France 2 and Sky Italia.

Leinster Rugby fly-half Johnny Sexton says the Heineken Champions Cup is getting more and more difficult to win as he attempts to lift the trophy for a fifth time.