Basel v Manchester City
Should be easy to predict; a Man City win over two legs, but the team from St Jakob can put up a fight, as they have troubled Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester United in recent years, with Mohamed Salah, Valentin Stocker and Marco Streller starring in substantial UCL and Europa League campaigns. The Swiss side are their nation’s best, but naturally, against England’s best, they should be defeated. As Basel have proven they are no joke, expect City to go all guns blazing in the first leg.
At least 0-3 1st leg, 1-2 2nd leg, 1-5 aggregate.
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs had the small matter of the North London Derby to contend with prior to this game of vital importance, although their 1-0 victory at Wembley will make preparations easier. This matchup poses a problem between head and heart, because, as an Englishman, I want to see Spurs go far in the Champions League, and I want Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier to destroy the metaphorical Old Lady, but Juve are superior in their enthralling battle with Napoli (the gap is two points at the top of Serie A), with the great Gigi Buffon continuing his historic farewell season, Gonzalo Higuain in great goalscoring form, and the experienced Sami Khedira providing Champions League nous. He may have been strategically complimenting Kane by saying that he is the most complete player this week. I want Spurs to win, but last season’s beaten finalist deserves another chance at glory, considering it’s been so long in Europe for the side from Turin.
2-2 1st leg, 2-1 aet 2nd leg, 4-3 aggregate
Porto v Liverpool
The Portuguese club will fancy their chances, but it is a simple case of Premier League v LigaNos, fiercely competitive internally, but cannot put together a top-tier European side. Even making it out the group stage is an achievement, as Benfica were the laughing stock of Man United’s group, continuing their curse from the 1960s. Liverpool played Southampton at the weekend, and actually Porto are similar as they, as well as Benfica and Sporting, have successful academies, and probably whoever scores against the Reds will be playing for them by September.
0-2 1st leg, 1-1 2nd leg, 1-3 aggregate
Real Madrid v PSG
I don’t really want PSG to add to Real's relative slump this season, as they are left with only this trophy to compete for, but they have found that the showcase games, especially in the knockout stages, are easy. It doesn’t seem to matter how well they are doing in the league, they just continue to impress against Europe’s elite. However, the billions spent in Paris will have been wasted if they cannot get their hands on this trophy, especially with Neymar in their ranks, but despite winning at least 4 trophies a season domestically, a decent European campaign has eluded them despite royal backing from the Middle East. With Real turning their volume up for Champions League games, they should beat PSG, despite money being thrown at their players from all directions.
2-1 1st leg, 1-0 2nd leg, 3-1 aggregate
Europa League RO32 Predictions
Red Star Belgrade v CSKA Moscow
Astana v Sporting
Dortmund v Atalanta
Ludogorets v AC Milan
Marseille v Braga
Nice v Lokamotiv Moscow
Ostersunds v Arsenal
Real Sociedad v RB Salzburg
Spartak Moscow v Athletic Bilbao
AEK Athens v Dynamo Kiev
Celtic v Zenit
Copenhagen v Atletico Madrid
Steua Bucharest v Lazio
Lyon v Villarreal
Napoli v RB Leipzig
Partizan Belgrade v Viktoria Plzen