My predictions:
- Manchester City will beat Liverpool surprisingly easily.
- Roma will surprise Barca and turn out to be much tougher opponents than people are expecting, but Barca will still advance.
- Bayern will beat Sevilla with moderate difficulty.
- Juventus will somehow manage to knock out Madrid on away goals.
Bayern will not have any difficulty beating Sevilla. It won't be less than 5 -0 aggregate score. They are a machine. They just beat Dortmund 6-0. If I were in the Sevilla coaching team, I would park a double decker and hope for the best.
Barcelona will also beat Roma very easily. Chelsea looked a difficult side for them to beat but the truth is that they were never in danger of losing. This Barca side is more pragmatic than the past ones. They know how to manage a game.
I agree that Juventus have a good chance. They have cunning, defensive discipline and incredible team spirit. Madrid will depend on individuals to make a difference. That is probably not enough on its own to beat Juventus.
Liverpool and City is a toss-up. Manchester City defend too high up the pitch and that could prove their undoing. Salah and Mane are quick as lightening and Firminho has an incredible amount of resilience and doggedness, despite the fact that he looks androgenous
If City blink against Liverpool like they almost always do in games, Liverpool will chew them and spit them out. Their front line is frighteningly quick. No team has scored more goals than Liverpool on the counter attack in the PL this season.
One practical solution is to defend a bit deeper at their place, foul them incessantly and hit them on the break. Defending too high is just inviting trouble. Their back line is useless and their midfield is well, middling. You don't need to be up that high to cut them apart. Let's hope Pep is not too rigid to modify his philosophy.