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European Champions Cup quarter-final: Leinster v Glasgow Warriors
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Friday, 11 April Kick-off: 20:00 BST
Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website.
Glasgow Warriors have made a habit of upsetting the odds in recent times, but the challenge of derailing the Leinster juggernaut in Dublin on Friday night represents the longest shot yet.
Outstanding and unexpected victories away to Munster in Limerick and Bulls in Pretoria en route to winning last season's United Rugby Championship remain fresh in the memory and can provide inspiration to Franco Smith's side as they look to reach the semi-finals of the Champions Cup for the first time in their history.
In order to topple four-time champions Leinster, Glasgow will need to hit heights they have never reached before, but they are already up against it before the first whistle blows.
The loss of Zander Fagerson, so impressive at in the scrum and in the loose in the quarter-final victory over Leicester Tigers, is a grievous blow. The Scotland prop is going through return to play protocols after a concussion and will miss the showdown at the Aviva Stadium.
While the return of Scotland lock Max Williamson to the bench after a long-term hand injury is a big boost, Glasgow are still missing the considerable influence of Scott Cummings in the second row, number eight Jack Dempsey, their all-star centre combination, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, and now suspended flanker Henco Venter.
To beat this formidable Leinster side you want to be at full strength or close to it. The reality is Glasgow are nowhere near that right now.
What head coach Smith has instilled into this squad, however, is a belief in each member of it, with the so-called fringe players encouraged, indeed expected, to maintain the level of the player they are replacing.
Warriors were still able to put 43 points on a Leicester Tigers side sitting third in the English Premiership, so any notion they are going to Dublin merely to be shown the Champions Cup exit door with the minimum of fuss is misguided.
Glasgow hooker Johnny Matthews told the BBC's Scotland Rugby Podcast: "It's always good when you can put that amount of points on a team that's going very well on the Premiership and still be disappointed with some areas of the game.
"One of Franco's main things is we don't have to lose to learn. We're still always trying to improve and still always trying to get better.
"You look at Leinster in the URC this season. They've set the standard and, historically, they might not have won the Champions Cup in the past few years, but they're always there or thereabouts and they're always one of the names in the mix.
"They have probably one of the most stacked teams in the world, certainly in the URC and in Europe. They're all world-class players.
"But we feel we've got the right tools to take them down. It's going to be a really good challenge for us, but we want to relish it and we can't wait to get stuck into them on Friday."
Leinster are favourites to go on and lift the trophy, a status underlined by a crushing 10-try victory over Harlequins in the last round.
Glasgow can be backed are odds of about 10-1 to spring an upset in Dublin, but Leinster and All Blacks superstar back Jordie Barrett has full respect for the URC champions.
"If we don't get our jobs right this weekend, well, then there's no more European rugby for us, it's as simple as that," Barrett told RTE.
"Glasgow are a good side. They play a lot of rugby, a very attacking side. They're tough as well, as they showed in the weekend against Leicester.
"So it's going to be a challenge. They're a very strong one-to-eight and they play with a lot of ball and kick the least in the URC.
"They're a confident side, they do back their ability. But, look, we're right up for the challenge.
"We respect them as an outfit. But we feel like we're heading in the right direction here too."
After losing the past three consecutive finals, and four of the past six, there is pressure on Leinster to finally get their hands on the Champions Cup again.
They have made six changes to the side that demolished Quins, with Ireland internationals Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter and Caelan Doris all starting from the bench.
That's three pretty much nailed-on British and Irish Lions for this summer's Australia tour, including a potential captain in Doris, left on the sidelines for the start of the game.
Are Leinster taking Glasgow just a little lightly? Or are they simply so strong they have got the capacity to mix and match on a week-to-week basis?
Probably the latter, when you consider the team is still boasts multiple Six Nations winners, Lions, a double World Cup winner in RG Snyman and is dripping with class from top to toe.
Not many are expecting Glasgow to knock Leinster off course in their quest to become kings of Europe for the first time since 2018.
If they do, the reverberations will be felt across the rugby world.
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