If I had to bet on just one team, I'd bet on Liverpool as favorites
Even if, as in your example, one of the 3 teams (Liverpool, Leverkusen and Milan) meet in the quarter-finals
But it's not absolute favoritism on the part of the English team, at least in my opinion. Even though Xavi Alonso has less experience as a coach, he has plenty as a player and that could help

To me the classification will be like that:
Classified in bold

Sparta Prague v Liverpool
Marseille v Villarreal
Roma v Brighton
Benfica v Rangers
Freiburg v West Ham
Sporting v Atalanta
AC Milan v Slavia Prague
Qarabag v Leverkusen

I guess Barcelona players are trying to get it right in this period to ensure they are part of the team that will gain a good award next year because Napoli struggle to equalized the game to draw the game 1:1 with Barcelona and, it will give Barcelona more strength to withstand their opponent next game.

You can see what Barcelona did to their opponent in the la Liga league competition that made them to return back to second position which if they can add more effort to their plans in the remaining games, I believe they will still make things happen again to lift the trophy.

A 1 point difference between the top 3 teams is a good drama this season in the Premier League. I still expect Manchester City to win the title this season, but the next 5 matches will definitely be tough. The match schedule may be unfavorable, but I think they can have a great run.

Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are great opponents, then Aston Villa and Brighton are also good. If Manchester City can overcome all these challenges without losing, then they will win the title. March was a tough month for Manchester City, but I think they have to get it done in order to maintain their dominance.

Is Ten Hag still going to be the coach of Man Utd?

I don't understand, Why is the Manchester United authority so hellbent on keeping Ten Hag as the coach of Man utd?

They definitely can get a better coach in my opinion. And they should also understand that there are a lot of players that are having problems with him. If only one player had problems with him, it was okay but now it seems like a lot of players have problems with him. First Ronaldo and now we see a lot of players are trying to leave willingly. Their forcing Ronaldo out should have been the first red flag.

Could you Remember what they said after Ronaldo left?
Really?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOnZxGAK2w0

I really want Man Utd to get a new coach ASAP

Onana again did not reflexively catch the ball so he just let the ball into the net.
Onana's same mistake is still being made.

Manchester United for the chance to qualify for the Champions League? It's still far away even though there are still many matches but I'm not sure there is a significant enough change later, they can only win the Europa League.

I thought the Fulham game would end in a draw but it didn't. I was honestly quite annoyed why Onana let the ball go was it because he was out of step? But as I said Onana often makes this mistake.

The Bayern Munich team could not score any goals in the first half. And Bayern Munich's performance in today's match is as weak as in previous matches. Bayern Munich's players had 64% of the ball possession in the first half. However, Bayern Munich managed to make only 5 shots in the first half. Only two of these were at Target.

It was expected that Leipzig will play defensively in this match. In this away match against Munich, Leipzig will be happy if they can get 1 point by drawing. And that's why Leipzig are playing defensively in today's match. So Munich should play attacking strategy to wear down Leipzig's defense. If Bayern Munich don't change their match strategy in the second half, then Bayern Munich will not be able to get 3 points against Leipzig.

Arsenal are returning to the Premier League after losing to Porto in the Champions League disappointingly. The fans are hoping for a strong performance to make up for that loss. Because of the much worse look of Newcastle compared to last season I don't think Arsenal will lose points at Emirates. Arsenal are already in an incredible form here - a 5-win streak.

What do you think about Arsenal's PL title chance this year?    Truthfully I can't be much positive about it because of knowing their character. It feels like they will waste their potential chances just as last season.

As long as Manchester City don't become champions I'm okay with any other team. 

Barcelona played well in this match, they played effectively to convert every chance into a goal and at the end they created 4 goals to make them win convincingly. This result allows them to be in 2nd place in the standings while shifting Girona who have not played a match this week.

Girona themselves will face Rayo Vallecano this week. With the opponents they will face, they should be able to win this match to take back their position currently held by Barcelona. They have a poor record in the last 3 matches, this is their chance to win again and secure their position in 2nd place in the La Liga standings.

Rashford Who I have seen playing sometimes can become serious with the ball and want to score so it's not expected that he always pass the ball, Bruno may not have trusted his finishing yet then, and maybe have too many options to pass the ball to, maybe that is a reason why Bruno and Rashford have not created chances for Rasmus Hojlund.

Steven Gerrard is not a decent coach even though he is a Liverpool legend it is not a benchmark that will make Liverpool better, we know how Gerrard handled Aston Villa it was bad the same thing with Lampard who handled Chelsea equally bad. 

Xabi Alonso is now getting closer to Bayern Munich, maybe the agreement will be accelerated considering that Tuchel has no chance in the Bayern Munich chair.
Zebri? I'm not sure he can handle Liverpool well afterwards but we want to hear more about which option Liverpool will choose.

If Real Sociedad realizes this match is important, they will play better. In fact, Real Sociedad only won the ball possessions and made many shot attempts but they scored 0 goals. Villareal even could play better, they are leading with 2 goals now although they only have a very little chance to score goals. They made 3 shot on target, they succeed scored 2 goals.

With this defeat, Real Sociedad isn't safe in the top 5 of La Liga table. Real Betis has a chance to overtake them now.
Well, I don't see a chance that Real Sociedad can finish this season in UCL zone. I think the realistic target is to finish at the top 5 of the table.

---

Update:

Current score Real Sociedad 1 vs 2 Villareal

The match is over and Leverkunsen managed to score a tough win today against Mainz. Currently Leverkusen has a difference of 11 points over Bayern Munich and this might make Leverkusen more comfortable at the top of the standings. Munich is suffering and seems to be failing in the Bundesliga this season, some say this is Kane's curse.

Bayern Munich will host Leipzig for the next match. Leipzig are in good form ahead of this important match, they are also very motivated to win after having 3 matches without defeat. This might be a tough test for Bayern Munich after suffering 2 consecutive defeats in the Bundesliga, but the probability of their victory is still very high.

There have been excellent draws today and I believe that the most interesting games of these round of 16 are
Rome vs brighton
Sporting vs Atalanta
Marseille vs Vilillaal
Freiburg vs West Ham
For me they are the games to be kept more but the others are also quite interesting

Ajax - Aston Villa
The toughest draw in this round. Both teams have the potential to win the cup but one of them will be eliminated this early. I see Aston Villa one step ahead.

Molde - Club Brugge
Never underestimate Molde but I know very well how Club Brugge play so my favorite is them. Their group games were pretty impressive.

Sturm Graz - Lille
Lille is far away from French championship and even in second place so they may pay attention to Conference League more. They already have an expensive squad and quality players such as David, Yazıcı, Yoro and Zhegrova. They should pass this one easy.

Maccabi Haifa - Fiorentina
Fiorentina is one of the top four teams in this tournament. Israeli side has no chance here.

The match has ended.
Leverkusen, as usual, won the match.
Leverkusen vs Mainz : 2 : 1

Andrich was the player who sealed Leverkusen's victory this time. Yes, his second goal in the 68th minute was the deciding factor, moreover it was a very special goal.

The points are full, 3 points for them. And this further strengthened their position at the top of the standings. There is no doubt that Leverkusen this season is truly unstoppable and unbeatable. Will they really be invincible in the end? This is amazing. I saw how Xabi Alonso was really proud of his players.

First misconception that people have is that Ten Hag is actually keeping Martial on the bench but that is not the case because Martial is rather injured and not just on the bench. Even after Hojlund was signed, Martial was still trusted by Ten Hag and he played more than Hojlund not until they fell out and he eventually got injured which provided Hojlund with this great opportunity.

Hojlund had been at a wrong side of luck in the first games of premier league even though he was scoring in the champions league but right after he started scoring it came game in game. He wasn’t missing chances but rather the chances weren’t coming is way and his team mate weren’t providing too.

As for Martial leaving it is chin decision, In fact martial wanted the contract renewal even if it will be at a detriment of cutting down his wages but Manchester United do not want as the new owner are seriously doing a squad overhaul and deemed martial surplus to requirements at the moment

There are too many rumors about Jurgen Klopp's successor at Liverpool, but we might be surprised when the management makes a decision. Several famous and experienced coaches have been linked with Liverpool, but I believe Liverpool have a good plan to sign one of them. They won't get the same coach as Jurgen Klopp, but Liverpool will have to get one of the best to keep the Premier League competition great.

Some coaches with Spanish passports are great coaches, but most of them still have long-term contracts with their current teams. I wonder, is it possible for Liverpool to approach Xavi and discuss the project?

It is still wide open that is currently behind 1-0 on aggregate while in the second leg many of them return to play at their home this could determine the result where they will qualify so this match will be more interesting at the odds offered by the bookie.

Arsenal returning to London can turn things around with Porto because falling behind is not a big thing so Arsenal are still able to return the goal back.
Atletico playing at home, they still have motivation but remember Inter Milan's game is now better and stronger in defense, the host must have a way to win.
Barcelona, still a bit in doubt but they still have a chance.
Bayern Munich, still big to win but if they fail then Tuchel will be under pressure.

Nobody will underestimate Chelsea this season after what they went through against the Premier League's big four teams. Chelsea beat Tottenham, drew against Manchester City and Arsenal even though I know Liverpool is a difficult team to beat.

Liverpool won the home match against Chelsea with a promising score at the beginning of February and then Liverpool will be favorites to win the EFL Cup final tomorrow. Liverpool are in trouble mainly because several of their main players are injured, but their recent performance against Luton Town looks like it will keep the players well motivated to win the title. Klopp and his players must do their best to end this season with a number of titles including the EFL Cup, Premier League and also the Europa League, of course because this is his last season with Liverpool.

When Klopp announced he was leaving Liverpool he said he was running out of energy. Xabi Alonso and Roberto De Zerbi have been mentioned in the press, but I think Steven Gerard could be Liverpool's manager in a surprise move. He is the manager of the club El Alliance but if he gets an offer from Liverpool I'm sure he would accept it anywhere in the world. He is a Liverpool legend. If the top managers like Xabi Alonso or Roberto De Zerbi don't come to Liverpool, he would come to Liverpool immediately.