Manchester United v Bayern Munich: Champions League quarter-final preview

A look ahead to Tuesday night’s quarter-final first leg tie at Old Trafford

Nik Brumsack
Tuesday 01 April 2014 18:56 BST
Comments
Manchester United manager David Moyes trains alongside Ryan Giggs
Manchester United manager David Moyes trains alongside Ryan Giggs

Things just won’t get easier for David Moyes. Following hot on the heels of derby-day defeat at home to Manchester City last Tuesday and the ‘Wrong one - Moyes out’ banner flown over Old Trafford during Saturday’s 4-1 win against Aston Villa, comes part one of what is probably Manchester United’s toughest test of the season - attempting to beat Bayern Munich over two legs.

Pep Guardiola’s side have been in supreme form for much of the season - losing just two of 44 games in all competitions. Bayern have been especially dominant in the Bundesliga and retained the league title after a 3-1 win at Hertha BSC last week.

They were uncharacteristically sloppy at the weekend - letting slip of a 3-1 lead to eventually draw 3-3 against Hoffenheim at Allianz Arena. Guardiola is expected to make changes from the team that started on Saturday, though he will not be able to call on midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who is out with a knee injury.

Moyes’ men, meanwhile, rallied well from going a goal down to eventually beat Villa 4-1 in the weekend’s early Premier League kick-off. Wayne Rooney scored his second brace in the space of a week during that win and should lead the line again on Tuesday night. One man United will not be able to call upon at Old Trafford is Juan Mata. The Spaniard scored his first goal for the club on Saturday but is cup-tied for this game due to earlier involvement in the tournament with former club Chelsea.

READ MORE...

KICK-OFF: Tuesday, 7.45pm

PAST THREE MEETINGS…

Manchester United 3 (Gibson, Nani 2) Bayern Munich 2 (Olic, Robben), Champions League, April 2010

Bayern Munich 2 (Ribery, Olic) Manchester United 1 (Rooney), Champions League, March 2010

Manchester United 0 Bayern Munich 0, Champions League, March 2002

STATS…

Bayern have scored 127 goals in all competitions this season.

Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in their last 18 games (won 16, drawn two) and have lost just twice in all competitions this season.

Ryan Giggs has played in seven of the last eight games between the sides - more than any other player.

Since the 1999 Champions League final, United have won just one of the last six meetings with Bayern.

Bayern are aiming to become the first team to retain the Champions League.

United have kept five clean sheets in the competition this season, one more than Bayern.

ODDS…

Manchester United to win: 7.00

Bayern Munich to win: 1.44

Draw: 4.4

CLASSIC MATCH

Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich, May 26, 1999

This was football at its most dramatic. For the vast majority of this Champions League final, Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side had looked like becoming champions of Europe for the first time since 1976. Mario Basler opened the scoring with an early free-kick before Mehmet Scholl and Carsten Jancker both rattled the woodwork. With time running out, Sir Alex Ferguson introduced Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunner Solskjaer. Sheringham swept in the equaliser in the first minute of stoppage time before flicking on David Beckham’s 93-minute corner to Solskjaer, who prodded home the winner. Cue pandemonium.

TV: Live on ITV1 at 7.45pm

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in