Tigers boss backing Clermont
Leicester Tigers boss Richard Cockerill tipped French giants ASM Clermont Auvergne to possibly go all the way and claim a first European Cup title.
The French side continued their winning streak at home on Saturday, ending the Tigers' dream of a third European Cup Final.
"Gallant losers is not my thing," said Cockerill. "Yes we can take the positives from how we played but we came with the attitude to win and we didn't.
"Clermont are a very good side and you are always going to be up against it in France and especially here where they played very well in the first half.
"If they can play the same way they did in the first half for the full 80 minutes and not lose concentration as they did for a while in the second half, as they did in last year's final, then they can win the European Cup.
"Were Clermont lucky to win? Probably not. Were we unlucky to lose? Perhaps, but that's rugby sometimes."
"Our plan was to try and keep the scores as close as possible in the first half and then go for it in the second half but in the end they had just too much of a lead.
"We played well in parts and we have to take credit for the way we came back. We could have been obliterated because all the momentum was against us, they were leading and the crowd were singing. It was a tough situation.
"But fair-play to our players, they took themselves to places they have never been in the Premiership or even in Europe at Ulster and Montpellier. To come back against a team of Clermont's strength and come within a whisker of winning takes some doing.
Captain Ed Slater, who saw replacement Thomas Waldrom yellow carded in the final quarter, added: "The yellow card took away some of the momentum we had built up. The referee had given us a warning and I had spoken to the team so we have no complaints about the card.
"When you're trying to close out a game, losing a player is not ideal. They were working well at the line-out drive so to lose a man didn't help."
