Bayern Munich are definitely one of the deadliest teams in the Champions League now. I really admire their high level of performance despite not signing a striker to fill Lewandowski's place in the team. They had big teams in their group like Inter and Barcelona but they just showed it really easy to beat them all.
Their record against Barcelona is already very impressive. They just manage to beat them comfortably in every condition. Now Bayern Munich are one of the strongest candidates for the Champions League title for sure. They will have more serious challenges after the group stage. Maybe they can do better than last season unless they start performing bad.
Bayern won't lose their form now, and I don't see them performing poorly right now. Their style of play is very impressive. With their present form, I foresee them to advance as far as the semifinals; the only time I think they might falter is if they come up against a tough team like Manchester City or Real Madrid. Bayern does not now require a striker because their current style of play works perfectly for them and helps them win games.
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG and Manchester City are all strong teams. And I would say all teams have equal chances to win the title. Each team managed to perform well in the group stage matches. But the knockout round is very important against any team. Now the teams have to perform very carefully in every match. A poor performance in any one match will not bode well for them. From now on, the team that plays consistently well will go on to win the title. And playing well in this round requires excellent match strategy.
Maybe in this case we should also look at the 16-team drawing which will be held on the 7th.
I think it is quite exciting now to see that there are several dark horse clubs and there are still several clubs that are subscribed to the last 16 competing.
It is very likely that PSG or Liverpool as runners up will be a strong match later because this will be like a big match at the wrong time.
On the other hand I expect something more from some dark horse clubs just as Villarreal did last season.