Manchester United news and links

• Former Chelsea player is scathing about midfield
• ‘First they need to get rid of four or five players’

Marcel Desailly has offered a scathing assessment of Chelsea’s chances of regaining the Premier League title this season before Saturday’s trip to Manchester United, with the club’s former centre-half claiming “five players have to leave the club” in the summer.

The former France star spent six years at Stamford Bridge, joining them after winning the 1998 World Cup. He made 222 league appearances, before leaving in 2004, a year before José Mourinho secured the club’s first league title in 50 years. He pinpointed United’s consistency in midfield as potentially crucial as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side pursue a fourth consecutive league championship success, with Chelsea still suffering from the loss of Michael Essien’s dynamism in the centre.

“It looks like the [Chelsea] midfield have not really delivered protection to the defence,” Desailly said. “The defensive block have had some problems this year. That is why they are not four, five or six points ahead because they have lost many points on free-kicks and just generally losing their concentration. Previously the midfield was absolutely amazing.

“Even if they weren’t winning the Premier League, it was holding the team. The midfield was really playing well. Now Joe Cole is not expressing himself as he wanted, [Michael] Ballack has disappeared the last two months, [Jon Obi] Mikel is playing his best but the team misses Essien. So this is why the defence is suffering.”

With those failings in mind, Desailly predicted a summer of change in south-west London. “First they need to get rid of four or five guys who are not Chelsea players,” he told the Premier League’s website. “I think five players have to leave the club. After that it depends on the finances. People are talking about [the Bayern Munich winger Franck] Ribéry but Ribéry is a problem because they have [Florent] Malouda on the left. I’m not sure if they will spend again.

“When you look at the two teams, United have a small advantage on the consistency they are showing in the midfield. Absolutely amazing. Players like [Darren] Fletcher, Nani coming back at a high level and [Antonio] Valencia have made a contribution. Let’s not even talk about [Ryan] Giggs. Right the way back to [Edwin] van der Sar, it’s a real team, a group. That’s why I believe that Manchester United today have more energy than Chelsea.”

• United striker expected to be out for four weeks
• Fabio Capello’s concerns eased after initial examinations

Fabio Capello, the England manager, has been assured that Wayne Rooney’s ankle injury should not be regarded as a serious threat to his participation in this summer’s World Cup. While the expectation is that Rooney could miss most of Manchester United’s title run-in, Capello’s initial concerns have been eased during a series of telephone calls between the medical staff for Sir Alex Ferguson’s team and their counterparts at the Football Association.

Rooney’s employers, on Ferguson’s instructions, are refusing to make any official pronouncements until the manager’s press conference on Friday. But various messages have been sent to Capello to let him know that, unless anything more serious is diagnosed in the scans, Rooney is facing a lay-off of up to four weeks and will have recovered fully, with time to spare, before the pre-World Cup friendlies against Japan and Mexico next month.

That prognosis emanated from an examination of the inflamed area before the team flew back from Munich on the back of what degenerated into a chastening experience against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena last night – one, for Rooney, that left the most prolific scorer in the Premier League walking on crutches with his right foot in a large protective boot.

He was taken straight from the runway at Manchester airport to a private hospital in the city’s Whalley Range district but the fact he was able to undergo a scan is being regarded as significant. Had there been extensive ligament damage, the area would have been so swollen the procedure would have been delayed for another day or two.

One of his team-mates reported the expectation within the United dressing room was that Rooney would miss three to four weeks.

At the very least United are planning for Dimitar Berbatov to take Rooney’s place for the next fortnight, starting with the game against Chelsea on Saturday that could go a long way to determining the destination of this season’s championship, and then the return leg against Bayern next Wednesday.

If United can overcome a 2-1 deficit to reach the semi-final, they will play both legs before the end of April, as well as league fixtures against Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Rooney, the scorer of 34 goals this season and the overwhelming favourite for the footballer-of-the-year awards, could be in danger of missing them all, or at least most of them.

Capello described the situation as “terrible news” but the ramifications could be far more serious for United than the national team.

Not too much, however, should be read into the club’s reluctance to clarify the issue. This is standard practice at Old Trafford in the case of injury stories and Ferguson was never likely to break the habit just to satisfy a media obsession that had the Sun asking its readers to “pray”, and so many television crews at Munich airport that a car was arranged to take Rooney straight on to the runway, bypassing passport control.

• ‘We’ve got players who can do a god job in place of Wayne’
• Vidic admits ‘we just did not have a good game’ in Munich

Edwin van der Sar, one of few Manchester United players to emerge from their Champions League quarter-final defeat at Bayern Munich with any credit, has insisted the team will cope without the injured Wayne Rooney.

“We have shown we can get through important games without Wayne,” Van der Sar said. “Against Bolton [a 4-0 victory last Saturday] we got a good win when Wayne was missing and other players did well. It can happen during the course of a season. Of course, you would rather have your best players available but we have got players who can come in and do a good job in place of Wayne.”

Van der Sar’s performance in the Allianz Arena was reflected in the applause he received from United’s supporters at Munich airport today, and Sir Alex Ferguson has credited the former Holland international with “keeping us in the tie” before the return leg next Wednesday.

Others performed less credibly, and Ferguson was unsparing in his criticisms in the dressing room. “We did not get enough possession of the ball to play our football,” the defender Nemanja Vidic said. “We just did not have a good game. You look at how we have been playing recently and we know we should have done better. We have still got a good chance of going back to Old Trafford and winning there to go through, but we will need to improve.

“We have to think about this game and make sure we are stronger in the next game and we will have to play a lot better against Chelsea on Saturday, that is for sure.”

The 2-1 defeat in Bavaria was United’s first in the last 17 Champions League trips, excluding last season’s final, and ended a run of six successive away wins in the competition. “We had a great start with the goal after two minutes but after that I don’t think we played the football that we are normally capable of in Europe,” Van der Sar said. “We knew Bayern had frailties at the back and we showed that with the early goal, but after that we didn’t exploit it too much.

“Losing 2-1 away in Europe is normally viewed as not a bad result but when you take into account the way we have being playing in the Champions League, and the fact they scored in the fourth minute of added time, it was a disappointment. We have to pick ourselves up and refocus for the game against Chelsea.”

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Roger Hackney explains Wayne Rooney’s ankle injury

Initial reports suggest Wayne Rooney has a sprained ankle caused by damage to the ligaments around the joint. In his case, if the diagnosis is two to four weeks out, it is probably a small tear to the anterior ligament at the front of the ankle at worst. The ankle will swell up and there will be a fair amount of pain.

Rooney needed to have a scan because often with ankle sprains there may be additional damage to the joint – as the ankle goes over you can shear parts of bone and cartilage off the talus bone, which forms the bottom part of the ankle. If that has happened then it is a much more serious problem, but a scan can rule that out.

In the short-term his medical team would have iced the injury and elevated it. Rooney was on crutches today: that will prevent the ankle moving outwards and being re-injured. However, it is important to get movement back into the ankle to stop muscle wastage and maintain fitness, so he will do work on an exercise bike and in a hydrotherapy pool fairly quickly.

Rooney has had a few metatarsal injuries, but there is no reason this injury is related. However, footballers go over on ankles a lot because of the amount of twisting and turning in the game, and it’s no surprise that he has a history of sprained ankles. If they repeatedly injure an ankle there is a danger of developing footballers’ ankle, which is a form of arthritis in the joint.

That is a condition that can end a player’s career, although there is no evidence Rooney has the condition currently. Heavy strapping can help prevent ankle injuries, as it stops a joint moving around. However it also restricts mobility, which is very important in football, so any strapping used by Rooney would need to be light.

Another long-term danger for him is the loss of ‘positional sense’ in the ankle. When you tear ligaments you lose the nerve fibres that tell the ankle where it is: that makes it easier to go over on the ankle and damage the joint again. On the positive side, if his team say he will be back in four weeks it doesn’t sound like a severe sprain and he will be fine for the World Cup.

Roger Hackney is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon

The striker is expected to miss between two and four weeks with an ankle injury. Will the Old Trafford side falter in their attempt to win the Premier League and European Cup?

Federico Macheda could be asked to step up after Wayne Rooney’s injury.

• Defender believes Bulgarian striker can be lone striker
• Vidic admits United were disappointed with Bayern defeat

Nemanja Vidic is convinced Dimitar Berbatov can replace the injured Wayne Rooney at the spearhead of Manchester United’s attack. With Chelsea looming on Saturday and the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich following just four days later, Rooney will probablynot be fit for either.

“We showed this season, we play as a team,” said Vidic. “It is not just about one man. Definitely Wayne Rooney has had a great season. He is unbelievable, one of the best in the world. But sometimes big players are missing, and others need to be ready.”

As Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck are out for the season, unless Ferguson places all his trust in the unproven Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf, the ‘other’ in this instance, will have to be Berbatov. Bought for a club record £30.75m in 2008, the former Tottenham Hotspur striker has struggled to win over his critics, largely due to his relaxed style of play.

Yet United do have a decent record when Berbatov has started games for them and at both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bolton Wanderers recently, the Bulgarian produced the kind of gritty performance Rooney has perfected in the lone striking role.

“Dimitar had a great game against Bolton on Saturday. He is a great footballer,” said Vidic. “He scored twice himself and can set up goals for other players as well. We have a good squad. We just need to believe in ourselves and believe in each other.”

On the European front at least, life would have been much less complicated had Bayern not scored the late goal that won them the tie. Vidic admitted the team had not played well.

“We had all night to think about what went wrong,” said Vidic. “It was not a great game for us. We should play better and we will need to play better against Chelsea. Sometimes when you lose a game and play badly you wake up and realise you need to improve.

“I am not concerned. I was disappointed,” added Vidic. “But 2-1 is not that bad a result bearing in mind we still have a game at home and I expect us to be stronger.”

Sir Alex Ferguson’s options for replacing Wayne Rooney appear as limited as those available to England manager Fabio Capello

So that’s it then. England can stop dreaming of another World Cup final and Manchester United can resign themselves to coming second again in the Champions League, always assuming they can get past Bayern Munich in next week’s second leg with Wayne Rooney on the sidelines.

The good news is that Rooney may not be out for long. According to some optimistic early reports he could be back in two to four weeks. The bad news, no matter how quickly Rooney recovers, is that England and to a lesser extent United have both been exposed as one-man teams. Take away the short, stocky Scouser at the front and both begin to resemble Samson with a short back and sides. The shape and appearance of power is still there but the strength and the potency is gone.

It would be fair to point out that we knew this all along, and in the very real sense that newspapers and commentators have been prepared for such an eventuality for months, Rooney’s ankle damage was an accident waiting to happen. No one can be remotely surprised by the latest turn of events, not after the last World Cup, and those tempted to look on the bright side and view a relatively minor injury to Rooney as a good way of getting him to South Africa in one piece ought to be aware that few recoveries are ever quite as straightforward as that.

It depends how long the player is out, of course, but the key point is that after any sort of lay-off Rooney is unlikely to return immediately to the form that has been so devastating since Christmas. He will need a few games to recover fitness and confidence and get back into his stride, and these could be important games in United’s calendar. During this period he will be vulnerable to further injury and extra attention from opponents, and there is always the danger of being rushed back too soon rather than taking the required amount of rest. Rooney is the sort of player who is also likely to want to do too much too soon. Knowing his importance to both club and country brings a certain pressure to perform right from the outset.

Even if all that turns out to be a worst case scenario, the same thing could easily happen again between now and the end of the season and it is worth asking how both United and England came to be so reliant on a single player. United would like to feel they have more attacking options at their disposal than are available to Fabio Capello, although that isn’t necessarily so. Not with Michael Owen out for the rest of the season, Danny Welbeck on loan, Federico Macheda still raw and only just returning from injury and Dimitar Berbatov not exactly filling his boots with goals this season. As even Louis van Gaal was able to point out in Munich, Berbatov has only scored 12 goals to Rooney’s 34 this season, and until the Bulgarian’s pair against Bolton on Saturday, United’s second top scorer was the own goals column with 11.

The enigmatic Berbatov is the sort of player who divides opinion, among United fans as well as neutrals. Some people view him as a luxury player who has not made the expected impact and has struggled to live up to his transfer fee, others think he is a superior striker to Rooney who is being scandalously under used and deserves to have the team set up around him. There is no room here to go into that highly polarised debate, suffice to say that if Rooney is sidelined for a while the Berbatov that so consistently impressed Spurs fans ought to be an ideal candidate to step into the gap.

Capello would love to have a player of Berbatov’s quality to take to South Africa as an understudy for Rooney, because England certainly do not possess one. While United have Berbatov to take over striking duties from Rooney it is perhaps harsh to describe them as a one-man team, although the two players are in no way similar. Berbatov is more of a link player than an out-and-out striker, although he did score 23 goals in each of his two seasons at Spurs. While using the two together has rarely worked as well as Sir Alex Ferguson must have hoped, at least Berbatov now has a chance to show what he can do on his own.

One of the reasons Berbatov has become somewhat becalmed at Old Trafford, both in terms of goals and appearances, is that Ferguson has been using Rooney on his own up front. Served well by Nani and Antonio Valencia in the last few months (Ferguson may now be regretting leaving Valencia out in Munich) Rooney delighted the nation by growing into the role of complete centre forward, adding heading to his already powerful armoury and showing a willingness both to get on the end of crosses and take on defences by himself. We English like nothing better, although there is a downside to the all-action, force-of-nature frontman. Take him away and you are left with just a supporting cast.

Liverpool know this problem only too well, yet as may prove significant this summer, Spain are not quite so debilitated when Fernando Torres is absent. Lionel Messi may well be the best player in the world at the moment but Barcelona have plenty other attacking options, as have Argentina, who often complain they do not see the best of Messi in any case. There isn’t another player in the world like Rooney, and it is easy to see why United and England are not just glad to have him but happy to make him the sole focus of attack, although there will always be a potential problem with that approach and the clue is in the word “sole”.

Should injury intervene, as it just has, you then need a convincing Plan B. England do not appear to have one, United may still be able to cobble one together, but the nomenclature gives the game away. This is fairly primitive stuff. You wouldn’t hear Barcelona talking of a Plan B. For the sake of argument, let us assume that a full strength United and a full strength Barcelona are appearing in a repeat of last season’s Champions League final. If Rooney is fit and on form, you would have to give United a chance of winning, just as a Messi at the peak of his powers could almost certainly swing the game Barcelona’s way. Remove both after five minutes, however, and you would want your money on Messi’s teammates rather than Rooney’s.

• Striker carried off during United’s 2-1 lose to Bayern Munich
• A detailed timeline of Wayne Rooney’s injuries since 2003

An initial diagnosis has suggested that Wayne Rooney will be out for up to a month with the sprained ankle he sustained during Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final tie yesterday, Sky Sports News have reported.

The striker had to be carried off the pitch moments before full-time after an accidental collision with the Bayern striker Mario Gómez. He left the Allianz Arena on crutches with his injured right foot in a protective boot prior to having a hospital scan back in Manchester.

The England coach Fabio Capello intends to hear from Rooney on the status of his injury by tomorrow at the latest.

• Read Kevin McCarra’s match report
• Paul Hayward: Another blow for England
• Read Rob Smyth’s minute-by-minute report
• David Pleat: United left Rooney too isolated
• In pictures: All the Allianz Arena action

There were fears that Rooney may have suffered a fracture of his ligaments, an injury that could have sidelined him for months and possibly put his participation in this summer’s World Cup in jeopardy. However, it appears that the injury may not be too serious, although he will almost certainly miss United’s crucial match with Chelsea at Old Trafford on Saturday and the return with Bayern, at the same ground, next Wednesday.

United have themselves refused to put a timescale on how long Rooney will be out of action as he has yet to undergo his scan. That is expected to take place in the next day or so with an official announcement scheduled to be made by Sir Alex Ferguson at his weekly press conference on Friday.

Edwin van der Sar, whose man-of-the-match display ensured United do still have hope of reaching the semi-finals after a poor performance, insists they can cope without Rooney. “Against Bolton we also played with some other players,” he said.

“It can happen in the season. You always want your best players available but we know the players coming in can also do a good job.”

How the Manchester United and England striker’s career has been hampered by ankle and foot injuries

26 July 2003 sprained ankle

Rooney was carried off with a sprained ankle during Everton’s friendly with Rangers at Ibrox after an apparently harmless challenge with Bob Malcolm. Everton feared he would be out for four weeks and miss the start of the season, but he came on as a substitute against Arsenal on the opening day

29 March 2004 sprained ankle

Rooney injured his ankle against Middlesbrough at Goodison and appeared to aggravate it during England’s 1-0 friendly defeat in Sweden the following Wednesday. The injury resulted in him missing two weeks of action for Everton

24 June 2004 metatarsal

Having starred for England throughout Euro 2004 in Portugal, Rooney limped off during their quarter-final against the hosts. It was later confirmed Rooney had cracked his fifth metatarsal and would be out for eight weeks, but he did not make his return until the end of September

29 April 2006 metatarsal

With just six weeks until England’s World Cup opener against Paraguay, Rooney was carried off with a fractured metatarsal bone in his right foot after an innocuous challenge from Chelsea’s Paulo Ferreira. The initial prognosis said he would definitely miss the group stages, if not the whole tournament – but Rooney featured in all but one of England’s matches

12 August 2007 metatarsal

Rooney broke a metatarsal for the third time in three years – this time his left foot – when Reading’s Michael Duberry inadvertently stamped on his foot. Tests confirmed Rooney had suffered a hairline fracture which he returned from slightly earlier than the six-to-eight weeks originally diagnosed

9 November 2007 sprained ankle

Barely a month after returning from his third metatarsal injury, Rooney injured his ankle in training and left Manchester United’s Carrington training ground on crutches. The striker made his return on schedule a month later, but missed England’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia

1 October 2008 sprained ankle

Rooney limped off against the Danish side AaB Aalborg with an injured ankle, with Sir Alex Ferguson unsure of the severity of the injury but rating him doubtful for the Blackburn match three days later. Rooney started and scored at Ewood Park

30 March 2010 sprained ankle

A tangle with Bayern Munich’s Mario Gómez left Rooney crumpled on the ground – replays show he inflicted damage to his right ankle. The striker was helped off by the United physio and left the ground on crutches with a protective cast over the foot

Watch MUTV’s interviews and scrutinise the highlights on your PC.

Giggs believes United can overcome Bayern Munich at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex insists United can reach the semis even without Rooney.

Today’s grist told you so

When considering Rafael Benítez’s reign at Anfield it is important to remember that it began just after the demise of Brookside. There were a lot of angry, unemployed scriptwriters knocking about Liverpool, some of whom, it seems, finagled their way into positions of influence at one of the local football clubs. After experimenting with Hollywoodian plot devices early on, notably in the far-fetched Istanbul episode, the disgruntled dramatists returned to more gritty themes – thus a burglary epidemic afflicted the squad, the captain endured a tense trial before being acquitted of assault and two other players had a boozy tiff involving a misused golf club.

Eager not to make it too obvious that the club is really being run by soap operatists, the surreptitious puppet-masters have so far stopped short of reprising their most famous scene by staging impassioned pre-watershed on-pitch hanky-panky between, say, Benítez and Dirk Kuyt. But reports today suggest the storymakers are about to give their presence away – by arranging for Benítez, who is already at odds with disenfranchised players, dissident fans and distinctly clueless owners, to attempt to make his life more comfortable by making a summer transfer bid for … Raul Madrid player-manager Raúl!

Meanwhile, docked winger Albert Riera, whom scriptwriters had Benítez buy for £8m and then ignore as per assorted previous storylines, will remain on set as a lippy extra, supposedly because he could not agree wages with would-be Russian employers.

Wages will be the least of Steven Pienaar’s worries this summer, when he will be the subject of extravagant offers from both Chelsea and Manchester City. The same clubs, and Manchester United, will also woo Piennar’s young team-mate Jack Rodwell. David Moyes has already begun scouting for canny replacements, and so far the apple of his eye is Monaco’s left-sided midfield Nene.

Chelsea will make way for those and other arrivals by getting shot of Deco (to Fluminese), John Obi Mikel (to Aston Villa or Juventus), Joe Cole (to Spurs) and Salomon Kalou (Wolves).

Arsène Wenger has still not recovered the files named centrebacks.doc and goalkeepers.doc so will make do with a striker in the form, and indeed the person, of Catania’s Japanese international Takayuki Morimoto.

Sentimental Sam Allardyce is to give Portsmouth £2m for Aruna Dindane and let him stay at the ailing club for their fairytale FA Cup semi-final appearance.

Finally, Newcastle are already preparing for life back in the Premier League – or are they? They’re preparing a bid for Mikaël Silvestre.

Ji-Sung Park insists United are still confident about reaching the Champions League semi-finals. United surrendered an early lead against Bayern Munich last night and Ivica Olic’s injury-time winner means they will have to overturn a 2-1 deficit if they are to book a meeting with either Lyon or Bordeaux.


Already English clubs have endured mixed results in similar situations this season. Whilst Arsenal came from behind to defeat Porto in the last round, Chelsea were unable to claw their way back against Inter Milan.

Edwin van der Sar insists Manchester United can win without Wayne Rooney. United face an anxious wait to discover the extent of the ankle injury the striker suffered in the final minute of last night’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich.


Rooney left the Allianz Arena on crutches, with a protective boot on his right foot. Early indications are that Rooney has suffered a sprain, which Sir Alex Ferguson claimed in the immediate aftermath of the game he hoped was “not too serious”.

• United’s goalkeeper believes the club can recover
• Dimitar Berbatov is left as first-choice striker

Edwin van der Sar is convinced that Manchester United can win without Wayne Rooney. The club face an anxious wait to discover the extent of the ankle injury that Rooney suffered in the final minute of last night’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich.

Manchester United’s manager claimed the injury to the striker was “not too serious” after the game yet even in the best-case scenario, it seems improbable that Rooney will be fit for Saturday’s Premier League game with Chelsea at Old Trafford or for the must-win return leg against Bayern four days later.

Yet Van der Sar, whose man-of-the-match display ensured United still have hope of reaching the semi-finals, insists they can cope.

“Against Bolton we also played with some other players,” he said. “It can happen in the season. You always want your best players available but we know the players coming in can also do a good job.”

In the short-term, Ferguson is expected to use Dimitar Berbatov at the head of his strike-force, as he did at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday and Wolverhampton Wanderers a couple of weeks earlier, and retain the same formation that has proved so successful this season.

Should Rooney’s injury stretch on, United will be forced to rely on Federico Macheda and Mama Biram Diouf, with Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck already out with calf and knee injuries. Neither Macheda nor Diouf have been tested at the highest level and neither made the bench last night.

Ferguson does have the option of deploying Ryan Giggs in a more advanced role, while Nani, Park Ji-Sung and Antonio Valencia have good attacking instincts. However, none of the latter three have been used as a senior striker, in the way Cristiano Ronaldo was used last season.

Park himself is optimistic that United can beat Bayern when they travel to Old Trafford and pointed to the fact his side had taken an early lead away from home, despite conceding twice.

“We are disappointed because we were leading,” he said. “The early goal was good for us but we weren’t able to build on it and get the result. But we have our chance to go through at Old Trafford.

“Bayern have an experienced team, and the club has a proud history. They did well but the situation will be different at Old Trafford. We’re waiting for them to come there.”

United are sweating on Wayne Rooney’s chances of leading the Reds’ attack in the crucial title showdown with Chelsea at Old Trafford on Saturday.


The 34-goal striker left the Allianz Arena on crutches last night after injuring his right ankle against Bayern Munich. It was a heart-stopping moment for Reds and England fans as the club and country’s talisman - who is in the form of his life - collapsed in agony.

• Wayne Rooney to have tests on ankle injury
• Bayern score twice late on to beat United 2-1

Wayne Rooney was last night undergoing medical tests to ascertain the seriousness of an injury that is threatening to end the most prolific season of his career.

The Premier League’s leading scorer and irresistible choice for footballer of the year had to be helped from the pitch with suspected ankle ligament damage on a traumatic night for Manchester United during which they threw away a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.

Rooney left the Allianz Arena on crutches, with his right foot in a protective boot, and will have a hospital scan today amid concerns that he could be facing a possible six-week lay-off, beginning with Saturday’s crucial league match with fellow title contenders Chelsea. His manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said he did not think the injury was “terribly serious” and allayed fears that it could be the fourth time Rooney had broken a metatarsal in six years.

• Read Kevin McCarra’s match report
• Paul Hayward: Another blow for England
• Read Rob Smyth’s minute-by-minute report
• David Pleat: United left Rooney too isolated
• In pictures: All the Allianz Arena action

But Ferguson also acknowledged that it may be bad news. “It’s too early now to know for sure,” he said. “He has hurt his ankle and we’ll have to wait and see. I can’t answer how long it will be. He is being treated by our medics and we will see what he’s like tomorrow.”

Rooney was injured in the build-up to Ivica Olic’s winning goal three and a half minutes into stoppage time on a night in which the England striker opened the scoring only for Bayern to turn the match upside down and leave an angry Ferguson castigating the way his team had “caused our own defeat”.

Mario Gómez, the Bayern substitute, accidentally trod on Rooney’s foot and the United player immediately pulled away, crumpling to the floor in obvious distress and twisting his ankle as he fell. He had to be helped off the pitch by three members of United’s backroom staff, unable to put any weight on his injured foot.

Ferguson was unwilling to answer any more questions but Rooney will almost certainly miss the Chelsea game as well as the second leg of the Bayern match next Wednesday. The bigger fear for United, though, is that it could be more like four to six weeks and the potential seriousness of the moment was summed up by the Bayern coach, Louis van Gaal. “He is their most important player,” he said.

“Just look at the statistics. Rooney is their top scorer with 34 goals. Dimitar Berbatov has 12 goals but until this weekend their second-highest scorer was the opposition, with 11 own goals. That’s how important Rooney is to them. But I wouldn’t wish an injury on anyone.”

Rooney had scored inside the opening two minutes but Ferguson would later complain that “we were giving the ball away from minute one” and he was incensed by the nature of Bayern’s goals.

The first stemmed from a needless handball by Gary Neville, allowing the France forward Franck Ribéry to score with a free-kick that deflected in off Rooney. Then, with virtually the last attack of the game, Olic dispossessed Patrice Evra inside the penalty area to wriggle free and put in the winner.

“The first goal was a bit of luck,” Ferguson said, “but the last goal … how can I describe it? The game was done. That was a terrible goal. There was a lot of confusion back there [in defence]. Patrice got the ball caught under his feet and was a bit unlucky but it wasn’t a good goal to concede, that’s for sure.

“But we kept giving it away all night and we caused our own defeat in the end. We can’t complain about the result. Give them [Bayern] credit because they pressed the ball everywhere but we are better than that in possession. It just was not good enough.

“We had chances to kill the tie [with the score at 1-0] but that would have been lucky for us because [Edwin] van der Sar time and again was making fantastic saves to keep us in the match. Bayern were the best team.”

Van Gaal, nonetheless, maintained that United should be still regarded as the favourites to reach the semi-finals. “I think United have a very good chance because of the away goal. I wanted to win 1-0 or get a 0-0. 2-1 isn’t the best result but we have always scored in our Champions League games this season and have a scored a lot away from home so we can have a lot of confidence.”

The away goal also gave Ferguson encouragement, but United’s manager was visibly angry on a night that ended with the tests on Rooney’s ankle being delayed by Uefa selecting him for their random drug-testing procedure. “Old Trafford is a different game,” Ferguson said. “We will be much better, no doubt about that. We won’t be giving away the ball as much as we did here. We have the away goal and that’s an advantage.”

Sir Alex Ferguson’s favoured formation left Wayne Rooney stranded for much of the match

Manchester United may not have seen this coming. Sir Alex Ferguson had rested an orthodox winger and adopted his favoured European 4-5-1 formation, hoping that Wayne Rooney would not be marooned up-field or forced to drop deep to receive possession. Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick in central midfield were key to stopping the supply of ball to the energetic Ivica Olic and Thomas Müller and, collectively and individually, the visitors looked to have the measure of their German opponents for long periods.

Once ahead courtesy of Martin Demichelis’s slip and Rooney’s volley, United were not unduly troubled with the efficient Park Ji-sung doubling up to support Patrice Evra, even if the fact that the South Korean played narrower than Nani on the opposite flank invited Philipp Lahm to move untroubled into the middle third whenever he could. Yet Bayern had generated little. They enjoyed plenty of possession, and one of their centre-backs was always able to move comfortably past Rooney and further up-field in support. Yet United simply gathered behind the ball because there was not enough pace in the Germans’ tactic. While it was lethargic, United had time to mass their ranks to stifle the threat. However, an injection of urgency made the centre-half’s involvement in midfield more of a problem as the game progressed.

It was that extra momentum, most evident in the second period, that gave the Bundesliga side their edge. Louis van Gaal’s side were more positive as the game went on, one of the centre-backs breaking beyond Rooney at speed and into midfield where he could spread the play to Bayern’s wide players. The wingers’ moral bravery and determination to continue to attack Gary Neville and Evra, so rarely beaten, was admirable United failed to stop the crosses and Edwin van der Sar was worked far more than he might have envisaged before the game.

Bayern’s threat was so great that Sir Alex changed the shape and break up their rhythm. Bravely, he gave Rooney more support with Dimitar Berbatov’s introduction. Perhaps the thinking was to stop the advance of one or either of the centre-backs, pinning them back in defensive duties, but the effect was also to restrain Fletcher centrally alongside Paul Scholes with Carrick having been sacrificed. That deprived the visitors of the Scot’s intelligent running behind his winger, initially Nani, and United sat deeper. Franck Ribéry’s lucky deflection earned Bayern deserved parity, though the crucial late goal from Olic was fair reward for Bayern’s persistence.

Surely not another vigil outside a physio’s room? The lord spare us from another rushed recovery for a World Cup

Lothar Matthäus once joked that football is a simple game: 22 men run around for 90 minutes, he said, and then the Germans win. Manchester United turned this gag on its head in the 1999 Champions League final in Barcelona and last night Bayern Munich turned it the right way up again at English football’s expense.

A winning German goal in added-time – and an Englishman jack-knifed on the floor. Not any old John Smith, but Wayne Rooney, United’s greatest weapon and England’s best hope of ending a 44-year wait to reach a second World Cup final. Eleven years ago it was Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the late fireworks and Bayern Munich players on the deck slapping the grass. For Germany’s most illustrious club this 2-1 quarter-final first-leg victory produced the perfect transposition of that melodramatic night at Camp Nou.

A measure of Rooney’s importance to club and country is that this potentially terminal defeat for England’s champions was far less haunting than the spectacle of the shoo-in footballer of the year jumping like an electrocuted cat as his feet became entangled with those of Mario Gómez in the move that led to Ivica Olic’s winner when the clock had passed 90 minutes.

Students of metatarsal breaks and will-he-won’t-he-sagas were quick to add Rooney’s pained reaction to the file of late-season calamities endured by senior England players. It took some of us back to an April day at Stamford Bridge in 2006 when the little terror pulled up lame in a United shirt and left the ground in tears. This time, he hobbled for a few paces before crumpling to the turf. After Olic had delivered his coup de grâce, Rooney was shoulder-carried from the field and tried unsuccessfully to plant his right foot before being lifted down the tunnel.

The nation was gripped by foreboding. Surely not another vigil outside a physio’s room? The lord spare us from another rushed recovery and an umpteenth listless talisman not being quite himself in a big World Cup tie. But there are domestic implications first. Unless Rooney was in some kind of physical shock that will have passed by morning, the eye says he will miss Saturday’s Premier League smash-up with Chelsea at Old Trafford, a loss which could influence the direction of the title.

“I don’t think it’s terribly serious but we’ll wait and see,” Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager said, while praising Edwin van der Sar in the United goal for “keeping us in the game”. Ferguson’s diagnosis was that United surrendered possession too often to preserve their lead, secured after 1min 7secs through Rooney’s close-in finish from a Nani free-kick. Next: another molten night back in Manchester, where United’s love of adversity will be stretched to its limit by the pursuit of a win to prove that their profligacy with the ball in Bavaria was an aberration.

Ferguson’s pre-match ruminations were right: on these nights you face not only the 11 opponents but the club itself, the history, the crowd’s energy. There would be no point chopping away at the hard rock of success for decades unless accumulated spirit and knowledge made it hard for visitors to such an intimidating stadium.

To assume this Bayern team were motivated by an urge to avenge United’s astonishing comeback in 1999 would be to buy into convenient hype. Yet a feature of football’s biggest names is that great victories and painful defeats seep into the psyche and resurface through whichever players happen to wear the shirt. It might have been coincidence, of course, but revenge archivists were entitled to place Olic’s late flourish in the book of settled scores.

Except that this is only the quarter-final stage. United’s riposte won them the Champions League. To do so for a third time in the Ferguson era they need Rooney’s brand of havoc. United have won important games this season without their leading scorer and spiritual leader but each game now will require that special ingredient, that extra application, which Rooney brings. They need ball retention and strong defending, too.

An overlooked truth about Ferguson’s long reign at Old Trafford is that his best United sides have been built around strong centre-half partnerships. The eye drifts naturally to Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo or Rooney and away from the blanket throwers at the back. Starters, not stoppers, are the darlings of the Old Trafford crowd.

But from Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce to Jaap Stam and Ronny Johnsen and Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, United’s defensive pairings have sacrificed themselves for art.

It was a wonder, then, that the team began an eight-day grapple with Bayern and Chelsea in such a potent state given that this encounter was only the 11th time this season that Vidic and Ferdinand have started together. In the most searching trials they still lack battle-hardness. The two defensive guardians are still groping for consistent speed of limb and thought.

Matthäus, who was referring to England-Germany games, was right about club football, too, 11 years late. Next week United must flip the joke again: maybe without Rooney, their destroyer.

• Financial advisers issue warning to Manchester United
• MUST campaign adds to uncertainty at Old Trafford

Manchester United’s financial advisers expect the club to miss out on at least £24m in cumulative match-day revenues over the next two years. That constitutes a decline of more than 11% and enough each year to pay Wayne Rooney’s wages twice over.

JP Morgan’s analysis of the club’s financial position, set out in a research document released last Friday, shows United’s 2009 match-day income of £109m to be a high-water mark. Even in its supposed “upside scenario”, in which the club progresses to the Champions League quarter-final or beyond in both years, it anticipates a drop to £98m this season and to £96m next. And the recovery from that base will be weak: to £101m the following year. Indeed, United’s own budgets predict an even bigger two-year fall of £29m, with much of the collapse attributed to the difficulties in selling executive boxes. The document states: “Most of the impact from the economic slowdown was felt in the executive hospitality business, which we would argue is a highly discretionary expense.”

Yet JP Morgan concedes that even those estimates could prove optimistic at a time when the Manchester United Supporters Trust has been increasing its attack on the Glazer family’s ownership of the club. It adds: “We note that the coming two quarters will be important to gauge demand for 2010-11 season tickets and executive hospitality seating in light of the negative MUST PR campaign.” This is one of the “external risks” JP Morgan cites, adding: “It would place significant strain on the company’s limited free cash-flow generation.”

Benítez helps Spurs profit

Ask Rafael Benítez why Liverpool are struggling to make it into the Champions League this year and he will tell you it is the pesky board. The poor lamb has had only £20m to play with each year over and above what he raises in sales and he had a bit of a gripe about this transfer straitjacket last Friday.

At the moment Tottenham Hotspur look likeliest to supplant them. Just imagine what Benítez could have achieved with the Spurs manager’s budgets . . . except that figures released to the Stock Exchange on Friday show Spurs’ ascent has been achieved on rather less cash spend than the Anfield club’s. In fact, Spurs’ rise has been managed on a net transfer profit of £62.8m between July 2008 and December 2009. And who contributed a decent slice of that? Why, Señor Benítez, who was Spurs’ £8m benefactor with the purchase and sale back of Robbie Keane.

Wray enters pitch battle

Fabio Capello has it all wrong, it seems: it is football, not rugby, that has ruined the Wembley pitch. At least, that is the view of the Saracens chairman, Nigel Wray. Capello would not have permitted Saracens to play at Wembley a fortnight before England’s friendly against Egypt on 3 March had that been a competitive fixture. But, said Wray in his programme notes last weekend: “Oddly enough in my view it is not rugby that damages the pitch but football. If you examine any football pitch which doubles as a rugby pitch, then the worn marks on the field are strangely enough relevant to football not rugby.”

Michael Owen, whose hamstring went ping on the Wembley pitch last month, was not available for comment.

LTA’s pay and not display

There may be a few things to add to Baroness Billingham’s scathing report yesterday into the affairs of the Lawn Tennis Association. The LTA made an £8.6m loss in 2009, taken from its £96m reserves, which it says was down to a planned increase in major capital projects for new facilities. But a few quid was spent on other things, too. Such as the £11.3m on salaries, which work out as an average £41,000 each for everyone working at the LTA.

The chief executive, Roger Draper, receives considerably more – some say £500,000 in each year of his five-year contract. Only there is no way of telling exactly how much, since director pay is conspicuously the only thing that might normally be expected to be quoted in a set of accounts that the LTA has left out. As an associated and not incorporated body, there is no legal requirement to do so, but in the interests of transparency Digger asked Draper yesterday what he earns. And do you know what? He refused to say.

United are assessing Wayne’s ankle injury after returning to Manchester.

Man Utd and England striker Wayne Rooney awaits news of the scan on the ankle injury he suffered against Bayern Munich.

Follow Manchester United’s progress against Bayern Munich in the Champions League clash at the Allianz Arena with our live blog.

Find out how we rated the United players for their performance in the 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich.

• United left to sweat on Rooney’s ankle injury
• The pick of the images from the game in Munich

The damage inflicted on Manchester United by a defeat delivered in stoppage time may extend much further than the harm done to Wayne Rooney’s ankle at the very end of the night. He hobbled away with help, so stirring all the usual memories of past harm, but it is not his absence alone that threatens to push Manchester United’s campaign off course in the Champions League and Premier League. Indeed, Sir Alex Ferguson went no further than envisaging that he will be without Rooney for the home match against Chelsea on Saturday.

He is likelier to brood over the course of the entire first leg of this tie. To a degree this was self-harm since Patrice Evra was caught in possession as Ivica Olic completed the Bayern comeback by coolly notching the winner in stoppage time. It would be more responsible to admit that Bayern deserved their joy by achieving dominance from the latter phase of the first half onwards.

That mastery, too, was achieved despite the absence of Arjen Robben, through injury, and the suspended Bastian Schweinsteiger. It might have been supposed that the lack of them would be too much for Bayern to endure but they sensed fallibility in United and exposed it to the gaze of the crowd and, indeed, world football. Chelsea will have taken particular encouragement and it might almost seem a benefit that Internazionale relieved them of the burden of sustaining their bid in the Champions League.

For all Ferguson’s adroit juggling of his resources, the evidence of fatigue was on show in this defeat. Some will claim that Bayern, conversely, benefited from the less demanding nature of the Bundesliga. It is an argument that would be resisted furiously and, in any case, it gives far too little credit to the display that Louis van Gaal’s men ultimately produced.

As the evening wore on, Ferguson introduced Antonio Valencia, Ryan Giggs and Dimitar Berbatov in an effort to make the opposition retreat. It did not work. No one in United’s ranks can have the audacity to complain of ill-fortune, even if Franck Ribéry’s equaliser from a free-kick did deflect off Rooney to beat Edwin van der Sar at last in the 73rd minute. By then the visitors were beleaguered, with ambition shrivelled to a mere yearning to run down the clock.

These events have invigorated the tournament as much as they dazed United. It is true that the Old Trafford club have never done particularly well against Bayern, with the searing exception of the 1999 final in this tournament, but it would still have been reasonable to suppose that Bayern’s sometimes humdrum campaign was proof that they have not yet been restored to the elite on the continent.

This reversal will have taken United by surprise. They had been in highly effective form and the opposition here sometimes looked like accomplices. While there was a little misfortune for Bayern at the opener in the second minute, the level of concentration still seemed unimpressive. Nani’s set-piece from the right took a small deflection, but one might have expected Rooney, of all people, to be under heavy guard. When Martin Demichelis slipped, however, the forward had plenty of time to score with a composed finish.

Ferguson might not have expected a breakthrough so soon but the desire to dominate had been clear from the start. The versatile Park Ji-sung was a left-winger on this occasion while Nani kept wide on the other flank. The intention was to employ an extra man in midfield to stretch the quartet Bayern initially had in that department before Thomas Müller was pulled deeper to assist them.

Later in the first half Ferguson was irate when Nani seemed to have drifted out of the action. He could not have imagined that his whole line-up would ultimately follow the winger’s example. Bayern, after all, did attack with purpose when the balance of the action shifted towards them. The notion that United should have any prospects of dictating terms at a venue such as this was always disconcerting.

There is something wrong-headed about the idea of Bayern being more of an inconvenience than a menace to visitors. Money has been lavished on both putting together a side and employing the high profile Van Gaal. The team, however, had not quite gelled and it lags slightly in the Bundesliga. Bayern might be a project that is still experiencing teething troubles.

Despite the setback of Rooney’s goal, they had the confidence to ruffle Ferguson’s side. Paul Scholes, to take one example, struck some outstanding passes early in the evening yet ought also to have been cautioned for a foul on Hamit Altintop. Bayern did not lack ambition and Ribéry, for instance, gave Gary Neville trouble.

It may not be wholly chauvinistic to suspect that the battle with both Chelsea and Arsenal has depleted United more than Bayern’s struggle in the Bundesliga. That, in any case, is an academic issue. Ferguson knows simply that there is a serious struggle to be won if his team are not to fall out of the Champions League. It will tax him to restore the consistency of form that has been such a feature of United of late.

• Wayne Rooney hobbled off at final whistle against Bayern
• He may be doubtful for Chelsea game, says Alex Ferguson

Manchester United were left sweating on Wayne Rooney’s fitness after the striker hobbled off the field at the end of Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.

Rooney appeared to go over on his right ankle at the end of the game and his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said that the full extent of the damage is unknown.

“He’s got a kick in the ankle, we’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow,” Ferguson said. “Hopefully it’s not too serious. He may be doubtful for Saturday [against Chelsea], but it’s too early to say.”

Ferguson admitted that his side simply did not play well enough after Bayern came from behind to take a slender lead going into next week’s second leg.

Rooney gave United the perfect start with a goal after just 64 seconds, but Franck Ribéry’s deflected free kick in the 76th minute, and Ivica Olic’s injury-time strike secured victory for Louis van Gaal’s side. “We didn’t play well enough to be honest,” Ferguson said. “We kept giving the ball away. We caused our own defeat.

“Bayern were the better team, we can’t complain about that, but we’re better than that in possession. We kept giving it away and that was our downfall. The first goal was a bit of luck with a deflection but the last goal, I don’t know how you describe it. The game was done and we gave a terrible goal away.”

Ferguson was optimistic, however, that United can turn things around in the second leg. “Old Trafford will be a different game obviously,” he told Sky Sports. “We will be much better, no doubt about that, and hopefully we can recover. We have the away goal and we’ll go out to win the game.”

Sir Alex reflects on defeat in Munich and reports on Rooney’s injury.

Darren says United will take some valuable lessons into the second leg.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his side simply did not play well enough after they went down 2-1 to Bayern Munich.


Wayne Rooney gave United the perfect start with a goal after just 64 seconds, but limped off in injury time of the Champions League quarter-final tie with an ankle injury.

Manchester United suffered a major taste of their own medicine in Munich as the Germans gained some revenge for the Reds’ dramatic Champions League final win in 1999.

Wayne Rooney put United ahead before Franck Ribery and Ivica Olic struck back for Bayern. To make things worse for United Rooney limped off late on with an ankle injury.

All the best pictures as Bayern Munich host Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-final first leg

Ivica Olic scored with two seconds of added time remaining to give Bayern a deserved comeback victory

Preamble Hello. Anyone mind if we quarantine the past for a couple of hours? Sure, 1999 was amazing and life-changing and irrevocably altered Clive Tyldesley’s internal monologue, but it was 11 years ago – Niles and Daphne hadn’t even got together, for flip’s sake – and the teams from Bayern and Manchester that had all those unyielding scraps around the turn of the century bear little resemblance to those we can shall see tonight.

Now, unlike then, it’s United who are the pragmatists and Bayern the fantasists; now, unlike then, it’s United who are greater than the sum of their ostensibly workmanlike parts and Bayern less than the sum of theirs. Also, whereas those games always seemed too close to call (even though Bayern had left United well behind by the time the two sides met in 2000-01), United are almost uncomfortably heavy favourites here.

They are chasing a fourth consecutive semi-final spot in this competition; Bayern haven’t reached the last four since they won the thing in 2000-01. They slaughtered AC Milan 7-2 in the previous round; Bayern sneaked through on away goals and dodgy home goals. They are unbeaten away from home in their last 16 Champions League games. Bayern are unbeaten at home in their last two Champions League games.

I’m not so sure. A straightforward game against Bayern Munich? Next you’ll be saying Keyser Soze isn’t real.

Team news Arjen Robben is not even fit enough for the bench, but Franck Ribery does start against his doppelganger Gary Neville. Ladies, imagine a thre- [that’ll do - imaginary ed]. For United, the inclusion of Paul Scholes, effectively in place of Antonio Valencia, is the only slight surprise. The exclusion of Dimitar Berbatov, despite his orgiastic recent contributions, is not at all unexpected. The simple logic of that XI, I guess, is to have Park on the right to help Neville against Ribery.

Bayern Munich (4-4-2) Butt; Lahm, Van Buyten, Demichelis, Badstuber; Hamit Altintop, van Bommel, Pranjic, Ribery; Muller, Olic.
Substitutes: Rensing, Gorlitz, Klose, Contento, Alaba, Gomez, Tymoshchuk.

Manchester United (4-5-1) Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Park, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Nani; Rooney.
Substitutes: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Giggs, Rafael, Evans, Valencia, Gibson.

Matt Wallace gets tough department

“Rob, if you do not plug or mention this at any point tonight I will never read another MBM again. First British side to beat Bayern Munich in the Olympic Stadium. Go on. You know you want to.”

Is that your best line? ‘You know you want to’? I’d love to hear your Friday-night patter, Mr Wallace.

Actually, a little-known fact about that game is that, in the home of Gerd Muller, a certain goalscoring machine by the name of Adeola Peter Oluwatoyin Akinbiyi made his professional debut. Aged 19, pace to burn, now where’s that barn door.

An email from Gerard Cullen

“Rob, I know you were planning to quarantine the past for a couple of hours but may I just point out that Bayern have already taken ample revenge for 1999 by beating United home and away on their way to becoming European Champions in 2001? Most people seem able to recall Clive Tyldesley Night while forgetting the more recent match which, in fact, has far more resonance with tonight’s game as it was (a) in the 21st century and (b) a quarter-final. It’s United who are looking for revenge tonight.”

Well quite, and of course that was the game that made Sir Alex Ferguson decide, once and for all, to rip up his second great team. What we see now – a cautious, tactically smart, often dull side away from home in Europe – was all confirmed in Ferguson’s head that night, when Bayern won with such contemptuous ease that the days of United playing 4-4-2 were almost over. Until then they tried to score one more than the opposition; now they try to concede one fewer.

Searching questions of our time, from Jamie Redknapp “Do you think Bayern can score tonight, Ruud?” On their own patch? With players like Ribery, Olic and Neville on the pitch? Nah, Jamie, nah. Do you think they can even get a corner, Jamie?

Christ.

A couple of minutes to kick off There is a sensational atmosphere in the Allianz Arena. Everyone is drinking booze and singing. Next stop, rocket science. The Germans really do have it sussed, don’t they?

1 min Manchester United, in white, kick off from left to right. It looks like Nani will start on the right, which is a slight surprise, and a very positive move. Demichelis, who has a Davids-style mask on, is lucky not to be booked for booting Nani in the first 20 seconds. It’s a free-kick to United, down by the right corner flag…

GOAL! Bayern Munich 0-1 Manchester United (Rooney 2) … and it leads to a goal! Nani’s free-kick nicked off the head of Van Bommel in the wall before looping towards Rooney, in an obscene amount of space at the far post after his marker Demichelis slipped, and he sidefooted a clinical left-footed volley past Butt from six yards. It’s his 34th of the season, and that is an incredible start. The goal came after just 64 seconds.

3 min “Do you realise tonight’s game is the first that could have Giggs, Neville, Scholes and Butt on the pitch,” says Mark Scott. “Can’t remember the last time that happened can you?” The dying minutes of the 2004 FA Cup final?

4 min The last time United played against Louis Van Gaal, at the Nou Camp on 25 November 1998, there was an even earlier goal (from Barcelona’s Sonny Anderson). The game ended 3-3. Same again please!

6 min After some good possession football, Park passes the ball across the line of the penalty area, and Scholes welts it over miles over the bar on the run. Bayern are shell-shocked.

7 min “I’m interested in your oft-stated view that SAF can dismantle teams and assemble new ones,” says Gary Naylor. “Can even he be so sure that players will develop the way he assumes, or that he should not take opportunistic advantage of players maturing into new roles? I understand how a manager can instil a philosophy, but players aren’t Lego bricks are they?”

Nobody can be sure, I suppose, but his courage is one of his greatest qualities, and to dismantle two teams to which he had a huge emotional attachment, dramatically in 1995 and over a period of time from 2001 to 2005, took industrial quantities of the stuff.

8 min Bayern should have had a corner then; a goalkick was erroneously awarded. But that was an isolated attack and United are controlling the game for now.

10 min “Re: your comment about Neville and Ribery, why just the ladies?” says Mike Hollitscher. “I feel a little left out.”

11 min Nani is giving Badstuper a very tricky time, vindicating the very positive decision to put him rather than Park on the right wing.

12 min Some hubristic passing in a dangerous area from Neville almost gives Olic a chance; the ball was eventually smuggled away but it has got the crowd going and Ferdinand is giving Neville a hairdryer. Pranjic then coaxes in a free-kick from a very straight position and Vidic heads it away for Bayern’s first corner. It’s swung beyond the back post, where the unmarked Demichelis heads over. That was a half-decent chance.

14 min “Enjoyed the link from Matt Wallace,” says Lila Proof. “Could Goss have tried harder to make that volley look unspectacular? Question: will the green and yellow scarves in the away end tonight intimidate Bayern into thinking the mighty Canaries are back again?”

16 min Nani misses a good chance. Fletcher, in an inside-right position, played a square pass to him on the edge of the area, and Nani came smartly inside Van Buyten before dragging his shot wide of the near post with his left foot from about 12 yards. He couldn’t quite get it out from under his feet.

18 min Scholes plants his studs into the thigh of Altintop but somehow escapes without a yellow card.

19 min Bayern are tentatively feeling their way into the game and having a fair amount of the ball, but as yet there has been a lack of conviction, and Rooney looks a real threat when he gets either Demichelis or Van Buyten one on one.

21 min Ribery’s deflected shot from 25 yards is saved well by Van der Sar, diving to his left: not so much the save itself as the fact he held onto it at full stretch with Olic lurking for any rebound.

22 min A Nani cross hits the bar. He teased Badstuper in familiar fashion and then, from almoist on the touchline, curved a cross over Butt and onto the top of the bar. I would be sure that it was a cross if a) there was anyone at all in the box for United (there wasn’t) and b) Nani hadn’t scored from daft angles before. I’m not entirely certain he didn’t mean that.

24 min Ribery, just ahead of the centre circle, coaxes a delicious pass over the top of the defence but Altintop, who timed his run excellently from the right and was through on goal 15 yards out, miscontrolled it. That was Bayern’s best chance yet and is a reflection of their increasing influence.

25 min “I quite liked Jamie Reknapp’s opening gambit to Ruud,” says Ian Copestake, “because what I feel he was really trying to say was ‘Ruud, do you think I can sit with my legs any wider?’”

27 min A great chance for Bayern. Ribery beat Neville with a glorious piece of skill on the left and then curved in a cross. Van der Sar punched it away unconvincingly and it came to Altintop on the right of the box. He bobbled it first time towards the far post, where Olic, six yards out, completely missed his kick.

28 min “With rapid changing of camera-angle and bird-eye view, watching this match is like watching highlights from Pro Evolution Soccer,” says Pangeran Siahaan.

29 min Ribery is really starting to work Neville now. He has got him where he wants him, and they both know it. Another run leads to a Bayern corner, which yields the square root of eff all.

30 min Rooney gets hold of one from 23 yards, but it’s straight at Butt and he beats it down comfortably.

31 min “I am sure I read an article in the Guardian which said it was the Madrid 2003 ‘best game eva’ which caused the last rebuilding phase at Man United,” says Nick Smith. “Then again I could be wrong…”

It was actually the Madrid game in 2000, the 3-2 defeat. That made Ferguson first doubt 4-4-2, and swash and buckle, and the defeat to Bayern a year later confirmed his fears. The 4-3 is one of the most overrated games in the history of sport. It was little more than an exhibition game.

32 min United are in their bunker now, and at times it’s a 9-0-1 formation. Not by design, just because Bayern are moving it around confidently and pushing United back. A beautifully struck 30-yarder from Pranjic has Van der Sar tumbling to his right; he couldn’t hold it but managed to collect it at the second attempt.

34 min “Rooney is wearing gloves,” says Ben Dunn. “It’s to do with an injury, isn’t it? It’s not because, you know, he’s a bit soft or anything.” I’ll pass the message on. It’s superstition, apparently: he wore them one net, busted a net, kept wearing them and kept busting nets. So.

36 min “Who put the ball in the Germans’ net?” rings round the stadium as United get a rare breather with a throw-in by the right touchline. Nani combines well with Neville, who swings over a left-footed cross towards Rooney. He goes down in dramatic fashion, both arms raised like he’d been snipered, but nobody else appealed and the referee wasn’t interested.

37 min A bit of a lucky break for United. A cross from the left deflected off the back of Olic to Muller, who was 15 yards out and with time to line up a clear shot, but Olic was penalised for jumping into Ferdinand moments earlier. I suspect it was a foul, but it certainly wasn’t a clear one and could have gone either way.

39 min That should have been 2-0 to United. The marvellous Fletcher outpaced Lahm far too easily on the left and curved over a great ball with his left foot. Demichelis, who is a joke of a defender, totally mistimed his jump and missed the ball. It came to Rooney, just eight yards out at the far post. He controlled it with the right foot and got the shot away early with the left, but Butt flew from his line to block. What a crucial save that might turn out to be.

41 min What a cracking half this has been. The two defences are playing like they’ve been swigging 12.4% ABV Gatorade.

42 min “If it is a superstition, that must be good for England then that the World Cup is in a cold weather location this year, eh?” says Bob Pentland. “Or good for Wayne I guess. Otherwise people would be wondering what the daft little bald guy with the gloves on in sweltering heat is thinking.”

43 min After a swift counter from United* Park lays an inviting ball back to Carrick, 25 yards out, and his crisply sidefooted shot is deflected away for a corner.

* Well, okay, a gruesome 70-yard hump from Neville that Rooney retrieved and recycled

44 min Badstuber stands right on Nani’s foot, so he’s hopping around like he’s just stepped in a really hot bath. He should be okay.

45 min Rooney heads a long free-kick back to Carrick, who controls his low left-footed volley splendidly, but it’s a touch too straight and Butt plunges to his left to catch.

Half time: Bayern Munich 0-1 Manchester United That was a terrific half: error-strewn, certainly, but extremely entertaining. See you in 10 minutes.

Half-time chit-chat “Couldn’t you argue that the rebuilding after 2001 was the more radical and ballsy on Ferguson’s part?” says David Wall. “Since then he’s not merely constructed a new team, but rather changed his approach to management. Whereas in both the mid-90s and the end of the 90s you could identify a first XI who he’d fall back on for the major games, since then he’s become more of a squad manager. He’s not so much rebuilt a team as made United into a squad-based side. Given his age at the time, the length of time he’d been in management, and the change in habits that must have involved it’s quite something. And how important was the role played by Queiroz in all of that, do you think?”

Well not only a squad-based side, but also a cautious side, certainly compared to the swashbucklers of 1993-94 and 1998-99. So, yes, that probably was the more courageous in many ways. Queiroz was clearly influential but I think his role has been slightly overplayed: Ferguson had certainly formed these ideas before Queiroz arrived in the summer of 2002, and United – playing the ‘new’ way – had a very good European campaign in 2001-02.

More half-time chit-chat

“f Rooney and Ribery are killed in an 11-10 fight to the death, then hold the front page regardless, because Jamie Redknapp has just praised zonal marking and blamed man-to-man marking for the goal. I’ve been drinking but there’s another guy in the room with me who hasn’t and he heard it clear as day” - Callum Hamilton.

“I’d say SAF owes van der Saar a pint of Special Drink for his performance so far” - Thad Brown.

“I’m watching the game through a combination of a bitty German online stream, and your MBM. The German channel’s half-time entertainment is a shot of the empty ptich, punctuated by brief, bland, stats - such as pass completion. I knew the German stereotype is meant to be no-nonsense but, christ, I never thought I’d long for Jamie Redknapp’s incisive punditry and tight trousers” - Alex Michie.

“Rooney is wearing gloves in protest against the German language’s
unwillingness to give gloves a non-hilarious name. ‘Handschuhe’
literally means ‘hand-shoes’ which cracks me up everytime” - Ian Copestake.

“I knew a girl who thought Gary Neville a top totty. She also thought herself pretty, Emily Dickinson a mediocre poet and yours truly a genius; whichever one of those is the greatest indictment of a wholly nonexistent faculty of judgment is open to discussion” - Phil Podolsky.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s half-time appraisal “We’ve been okay, nothing more. We need to keep the ball better.” What he said.

46 min Bayern kick off from left to right and almost equalise within 33 seconds. Ribery ran at Neville and played a gorgeous disguised pass down the inside-left channel to Olic, who smacked a cross-shot from a really tight angle only a few yards from goal. It was beaten away by Van der Sar and eventually led to a corner, from which Van Buyten’s shot was blocked.

49 min Bayern have started this second half excellently and are really pressing. If it stays at 1-0 I’m sure we’ll see Miroslav Klose, as United have looked a bit iffy in the air tonight. They’ve not exactly been magisterial on the ground either.

51 min Muller’s low 25-yard shot spins off Vidic and forces a good save from Van der Sar, diving desperately to his right. It would probably have gone wide but he wasn’t to know that.

52 min United can’t put two passes together at the moment. There’s a palpable lack of concentration to their attacking work, which will put Sir Alex Ferguson in a funk because ‘concentration’ is the word he uses the most. With the possible exception of ‘youse’. The situation is actually made for Berbatov’s brow-soothing excellence, but there’s no chance of Ferguson switching to two-up with this scoreline.

54 min “Actually, there’ll no be drinking beer or any other booze in Munich, because European games are tee-total and sit-down (as opposed to Bundesliga and German cup games) as per Uefa decree,” says Christoph Lueth. “Leave it to Uefa to take the fun out of watching live fitba.”

56 min Altintop goes on a lovely, zig-zagging run from the right, inside Evra and then outside Fletcher, before lashing a shot towards goal from the edge of the box. It was straight at Van der Sar but hit so viciously that he could only beat it out in front of goal. Luckily for United it fell to a white shirt. Thirty seconds later, a Van Bommel heatseeker is, mercifully for United, straight at Van der Sar.

57 min Badstuber is booked for a poor tackle from behind on Nani.

58 min “Random thought,” says Tracy Mohr. “Van der Sar’s pretty good, isn’t he?”

If there was a website exclusively devoted to man-love, I’ve a hunch he’d be on it.

59 min Ribery beats Neville about four times in the course of one move, but Nani covers excellently. I know some people aren’t convinced, but every time I see Ribery he looks like one of the best players in the world. His skill is sumptuous, and he would fit the Henry role at Barcelona perfectly.

60 min “Does SAF really use the word concentration second most often?” says Gary Naylor. “I’d have thought that honour went to the word off.”

Youse off? Eh?

61 min Tomasz Kuszczak is warming up, which suggests Edwin Van der Sar might have a problem.

62 min United are still hopeless going forward. I’d get Valencia on for Nani here and tell him to roast Badstuber, who is on a yellow card. “As a Liverpool fan all I can manage nowadays watching Champions League matches is rocking gently backwards and forwards while making a high pitched keening noise and muttering to myself ‘It’s alright, it’s alright’…” says Phil Sawyer.

63 min Demichelis is laughably bad defensively. Do they have Jim’ll Fix It in Germany?

64 min “I like Phil Podolsky,” says Ella Spencer. “He made me laugh, lots. Although, Neville does have great cheek bones.”

66 min Dimitar Berbatov is getting ready to come on. That’s a courageous and surely correct decision because United just aren’t keeping the ball.

67 min “The defensive side of Jamie Redknapp’s game was underrated,” says Mac Millings, making a salient footballing observation and in no way just teeing up a gag. “He always kept his opposite number in his pocket. At least I think that’s what that is in his pants.”

68 min Pranjic’s long-range left-footer deflects off Scholes and onto the top of the net. Van der Sar had it covered but it’s a corner, which comes to nought.

69 min “I hate exciting football matches,” weeps Niall Harden. “Give me Wolves 0-0 Bolton and a nice discussion about embarrassing things that happened at bus stops/favourite Welsh bands any day. By football matches I mean MBMs, obviously.”

70 min A double substitution for United: Berbatov and Valencia replace Carrick and Park. That’s an extremely aggressive change. Nani will go to the left-wing and now United will play 4-2-3-1, with Berbatov behind Rooney.

71 min “I want to be a member of Tracy Mohr’s EVDS man-love website,” says Lyzette. “Although I’m a woman. And I love EVDS in a womanly way.”

It was my man-love website! I want my man-love back!

72 min Van der Sar makes another smart save, this time from Olic. Muller burst into the box on the left and backheeled the ball nicely to Olic, who toebunged his shot towards the near post from 12 yards. Van der Sar got down to smuggle it wide for a corner.

73 min Mario Gomez, who is just returning from a calf strain, replaces Thomas Muller, who had a pretty decent game.

74 min “Great call re: Berbatov coming on,” says Mac Millings. “Why aren’t you on the shortlist to replace Ferguson? After all, aside from your obvious shared tactical acumen, you also swear a lot and I’ve never seen you on the BBC.” You don’t watch Crimewatch?

75 min The second half has been one-way traffic, yet Bayern haven’t created a clear chance since half-time, just lots of half-chances that have required smart but not exceptional saves from Van der Sar. United can’t get away with a win here, surely?

GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-1 Manchester United (Ribery 76) Neville is correctly booked for an instinctive handball 20 yards out. The free-kick is in a great position, fractionally to the left of the D, and it brings the equaliser Bayern deserve! Ribery’s shot wasn’t a great one, but it took a big deflection off Rooney on the edge of the wall to wrongfoot Van der Sar. A lucky goal, but one Bayern fully deserve.

77 min “Can I put Tom Croft forward from Leicester Tigers (that’s a Rugby team) for the man love website, he’s dreamy,” coos Andy Bradshaw. “Plus I love EVDS, he always has a stinker against Rovers. Ferguson so should have gone for Super Friedel or Jaaskelainen when he had the chance.”

78 min Paul Scholes is booked for going through Olic from the back.

80 min Lahm’s clipped cross is just too high for Gomez.

81 min Scholes arrows a regal 50-yard pass to Rooney just inside the area, but his first touch is a fraction too heavy and Demichelis clears.

82 min Nani is replaced by Ryan Giggs, pushing the average age of the team over 100. “Was that Gary Neville’s experience that Andy Gray had been banging on about for the whole of the second half?” says Niall Mullen of the handball that led to the goal. There has been a lot of talk recently that Neville is back to something resembling his best; I can’t see it at all. But then I am stupid.

83 min Vidic hits the bar! Giggs swung out a corner from the left, and Vidic charged onto it to thump a header against the bar from eight yards. The bar is, as they say, still shaking.

84 min “Rooney spoils the man love, yet again,” weeps Susanne van Kampen.

85 min United have played well since the goal. It’s amazing what happens when you actually try to attack and concentrate a bit and stuff.

86 min Another Bayern substitution: Klose replaces Altintop, so I suppose Olic will go wide right.

87 min Ribery slaps one down Van der Sar’s throat from 30 yards. It was spinning viciously in the air and struck very nicely, but Van der Sar didn’t have to move.

88 min Rooney is booked for a frustrated challenge on Pranjic. It’s a typical Rooney challenge when he’s angry: he makes sure he gets the ball, as if that grants him some sort of immunity, but scrapes his foot over the ball to take the man as well. That’s not good and, with Pranijic’s foot planted, he could have done some damage. As it happens Pranjic has limped off to be replaced by Tymoschuk.

90 min A stunning low cross from Lahm, deep on the right, flies across the six-yard line, just evading Gomez and Klose.

90+1 min Van der Sar makes a vital save to deny Gomez! Klose played an angled through pass to Gomez, who escaped Vidic and then crunched a shot back across goal from 12 yards. Van der Sar, who had almost gone down too early in anticipation of a shot towards the far corner, reached up to get a really strong double-fist on the ball and keep it out.

GOAL! Bayern Munich 2-1 Manchester United (Olic 90) Football? Bloody hell. Olic has scored the winner with two seconds of added time remaining! Evra dispossessed Gomez but then dallied in his own area and Olic, coming on his blindside, ran infield from the right past Evra and Ferdinand before dummying Van der Sar beautifully and sidefooting it into the near corner. That was such a cool finish. The goal of a master pickpocket, and you don’t need Clive Tyldesley to find the parallels with 1999.

90+3 min A drama just became a crisis: Wayne Rooney has been helped off the pitch. He looks in a really bad way, unable to put any weight on his right foot. It’s not his knee: Gomez accidentally trod on his right foot and Rooney immediately waved to the bench before collapsing to the turf, head in his hands. We’ve seen that reaction before, and that time it was a broken metatarsal. Actually, on second look it seems to be a twisted ankle. Sky are sure it’s not a metatarsal, but it still looks nasty. I don’t think we’ll be seeing him for the second leg, or the match against Chelsea.

Full time: Bayern Munich 2-1 Manchester United United barely have time to kick off and the game is over. Well played Bayern Munich. They showed admirable mental strength and lots of quality to recover from the loss of a goal after 64 seconds. United were lily-livered, in truth, sitting on a 1-0 lead and passing the ball with an inexcusable lack of concentration. In the past that has sometimes been the fault of the manager, but today it was entirely the players’ responsibility. Flog them all! For all that, Bayern were great. They fully deserved to win, and it certainly sets up a classic second leg. Cheers for your emails; night.

An injury-time goal at the Allianz Arena leaves the Reds with work to do.

Follow Manchester United’s progress against Bayern Munich in the Champions League clash at the Allianz Arena with our live blog.

United Reserves’ clash with Wigan Athletic has been postponed.

Three contests that could decide the outcome between Bayern Munich and Manchester United

Philipp Lahm v Nani

Lahm’s opening goal in the 2006 World Cup finals, a right-foot screamer from an advanced left-sided position, brought this diminutive full-back to the attention of the globe. As a left-back with a low centre of gravity, his sharpness on the turn and intelligent covering were features of his game. But, also, he can use the ball with the shrewd brain of a midfielder. Now switched to the right, he will only have eyes for the ball when the revived Nani runs at him with his trickery. The Portuguese winger has the ability to move either side of his opponent, but his biggest improvement has come in his composure when picking out passes in advanced areas of the pitch. Being part of a successful side, in which he has maintained a regular place, has helped make the 23-year-old a far more confident player. Sir Alex Ferguson gave Nani a coded warning not so long ago and the player has responded in magnificent fashion. He will test the German full-back to the full.

Ivica Olic v Rio Ferdinand

Olic was recommended to me when he was emerging with Dynamo Zagreb. He is a never-say-die channel runner who can stretch the meanest of defences with his effervescent energy. At around 6ft, he times his runs and chooses his moment very skilfully to break into space behind defenders, and can often deceive the assistant referee’s flag. He made his name in Croatia, and England know all about his dangerous ability. Ferdinand has suffered this season with a recurring back injury that has seen this tall, lean, outstanding reader of the game sidelined too often. One or two question marks have been raised over whether he is losing his speed and sharpness but, at his best, the England captain would cope with Olic’s speed, if perhaps be irritated by the Croat’s hustling. Much will depend upon the supply and support that Olic receives from his colleagues in this first leg, when United will probably need to score to feel comfortable in the tie.

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk v Darren Fletcher

Fletcher has progressed through some difficult experiences at Old Trafford. Slow to be accepted by the United supporters, the tall, driven Scotsman has shown great fortitude. His strengths are his energy, drive, a strong recovery ethic and an ability to spread the play like a younger edition of Paul Scholes. He has tremendous timing in the air and is a real threat at the back post from deep crosses. Against him could be the Ukrainian, Tymoshcuk, signed from the successful Zenit St Petersburg team and who was described to me by Dick Advocaat prior to their Uefa Cup game at Bayer Leverkusen two years ago as “the perfect player”. Playing in central midfield, this scraggy haired six-footer is a tough tackling, intelligent holding midfielder with natural leadership qualities. Good in the air, he can pass short or long, and has the knack of making time for himself. He will be ready for Fletcher’s impressive forward bursts in support of Rooney.

The United manager hails the recent contributions of Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic ahead of tonight’s Champions League quarter-final

Louis van Gaal has played down Bayern’s talent. Sir Alex isn’t fooled.

A look back at the 1999 European Cup final in which Manchester United achieved one of the most staggering comebacks in the tournament’s history

• Striker fully fit after recovering from calf problem
• Likely to be on bench against Bayern Munich tonight

Federico Macheda look set to bolster Manchester United’s attack in the final few weeks of the season. The Italy Under-21 striker burst onto the scene in extraordinary fashion last campaign, scoring a couple of goals that ultimately proved pivotal in United securing their 18th league title.

Injury and a loss of form have meant Macheda not making the progress that was expected since but now fit after recovering from a calf problem, the 18-year-old is available again for Sir Alex Ferguson.

He made his first Premier League appearance of the season as a late substitute for Ryan Giggs in the four-goal hammering of Bolton Wanderers at the weekend and is also likely to be on the bench for tonight’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.

“Macheda has had a terrible season with injuries,” said Ferguson. “But he came back on Saturday and I am delighted about that because without question he is one of the most exciting young strikers I have had in my time at Manchester United.

“He has every chance of being on the bench against Bayern because his ability about the box for a young player is outstanding.”

Wayne Rooney has revealed he gets the punch bag out if he wants to get rid of some excess anger.


The United star is no longer the firebrand he was in his younger days, flying off the handle at every little problem.

United’s European away form can help build the platform for the Reds to reach a fourth consecutive Champions League semi-final.


Old Trafford surrendered its formidable fortress label when the Reds were beaten by Besiktas and drew with CSKA Moscow in the group stages last year.

Sir Alex Ferguson refuses to be fooled by Louis Van Gaal’s mind games.


Bayern Munich’s Dutch coach insists United are favourites for the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Allianz Arena tonight.

Previous games in Germany include a clash with a young Dimitar Berbatov.

Winger says that, if fit, Robben and Ribery are the men to watch in Munich.

Three Manchester United players from the year of that Camp Nou triumph are still going strong

Bayern Munich have made five managerial changes since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s “Football, bloody hell” moment in 1999 left their players so poleaxed on the Camp Nou pitch that Pierluigi Collina had to persuade some of them to get up again to restart the game. Every member of their squad that night has since retired from playing or moved on from the club.

There is nothing particularly unusual about that. Bayern’s turnover is just about par for the course, yet what has happened over the same 11-year period at Manchester United is remarkable. Not only do they still have the same manager, Sir Alex Ferguson’s 24 years in charge being one of the wonders of the modern game, but at Bolton on Saturday they were able to call on three of the players who had featured in their historic treble success. Only Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs actually played in the Champions League final against Bayern, Paul Scholes famously missing it through suspension, but all three were influential at the Reebok Stadium. Giggs even laid on the opening goal.

While the trio are in their mid-30s now and have started only six games together in the past three years, their importance to United’s current campaign goes far beyond the sentimental. Ferguson rested Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Park Ji-sung and Michael Carrick at Bolton in order to be able to name his strongest possible side in Europe, something he was only able to do because he had complete trust in his senior players’ ability to bring their enormous experience to bear. “Between them they’ve got lots of experience and that’s the vital thing,” Ferguson said. “They also have good composure in possession and they know how important it is to keep hold of the ball.”

All three have had to change their game subtly to adapt to the passing of the years. Giggs, the player Scholes imagines will be remembered as the best of the lot when they have all retired, has probably enjoyed the most success, cutting out the lung-bursting sprints and concentrating instead on a shrewd ability to make the right run at the right time.

Scholes has been forced backwards, to a position where he cannot score as many goals and consequently feels he is not contributing as much as he should, although his manager rarely complains. Neville, as a defender, is arguably having the hardest time of all in keeping up with younger, fitter opponents, but he still managed to get forward to good effect when he faced Milan’s Ronaldinho in the last round of the Champions League.

Perhaps this longevity is simply a reflection of the depth of talent available for Ferguson to mine from the renowned 1992 youth team (although Scholes only joined that squad a year later, with Phil Neville), and perhaps it is the case that the last three of Fergie’s Fledglings to leave the nest have simply never wanted or needed to play their football anywhere else.

Yet in the modern game, three one-club players lasting two decades at the top and winning everything in sight is a wonder in itself. Apart from Neville, Scholes and Giggs, there are only five others who have represented a single club more than 100 times in the Champions League.

The three players are also in United’s top five for all-time appearances. Giggs is at the top, having sailed past Bobby Charlton’s record of 758 and off into the 800s, while after Charlton and Bill Foulkes come Scholes and Neville. Giggs may never become quite as iconic a figure in English football as Charlton, being born Welsh proving something of a handicap in that respect, yet in terms of achievement and honours he seems likely to be just as revered by generations to come.

Whether he, Neville and Scholes start or play a role from the bench tonight at the Allianz Arena, their experience will continue to be invaluable as United seek a different treble this season.

Van Gaal declares United ’should be scared’ of his side’s quality.

View the club photographers’ shots from the Reds’ session on Monday night.