The pool also features Northampton Saints and GUINNESS PRO12 high-flyers Scarlets, with the top two reaching the knockout stages.
Last season, Townsend's side recorded three wins in six pool games but eventually finished third behind Bath and Toulouse, exiting the competition.
The head coach is intent on going one better this time around and believes tasting GUINNESS PRO12 glory back in May can only have helped them.
"We certainly have a playing group I believe can get to the latter stages of the Champions Cup," Townsend told BBC Scotland.
"We are playing a team we don't know much about but we know who they've got in their roster and they are very strong.
"They have played eight or nine games this season and we've had a good look at them. We know that, if we can put our game in place, both defensively and in attack, it's going to cause any team problems.
"You've got to play very well, close to your best, for the six games.
"Last year, we won against Bath and Montpellier, but it wasn't good enough as we only won one more match after that.
"We've had more experiences of winning big games [since then] - winning the semi-final and final in the PRO12."
To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.
63x46.png){kind=logo}