Of course Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen are the main candidates for the title this season. But Milan can probably do well too, they played well in the qualifiers. I also like Sporting Lisbon, who also did well. I think this Europa League season could easily be a surprise. It could happen that for example Bayer and Liverpool meet before the final.
There are many strong teams in the Europa League this season so there will definitely be interesting surprises before the final if they can all meet each other early. But for now I prefer Liverpool to become champions in the European League this season because the team has also proven itself in the Premier League so far where Liverpool is still at the top of the standings. However, if Leverkusen can succeed in the Europa League it won't be so bad because in the Bundesliga Leverkusen is also very good this season.
Now after announcement of matches which are going to play for the round of 16 things are having good change because mostly big teams are having easy opponents and hopefully these teams will win and go into next round without any problem where we will have more interesting matches for the last four round specially we have all teams in good shape and this could be entertaining Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool and AC Milan are the toughest teams which are having good chance but still we can expect any surprise because few teams like Roma, Atlanta and Benfica can make things tougher for the top ranks because these are also teams to watch for the big games because these are well experience and quality teams in this event.
While its fantastic to see Liverpool and AC Milan get easy draws, Im still nervous about upsets. Football's unpredictability is its charm. Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool, and AC Milan are worth watching, but Roma, Atalanta, and Benfica should also be considered. These teams know how to make big games exciting, so they may surprise the favourites.
Personally, I've been monitoring Liverpool's progress, and their form this year is excellent. Like we've seen before, being a favourite doesnt guarantee victory. David can defeat Goliath in football, as Sparta Prague will against Liverpool. Football is magical because anything can happen, even though Prague's odds are slim. My intellect tells me the big teams will win, but my heart wants the underdog.