Bayern batter Barthez

Fabien Barthez suffered a miserable debut for Manchester United in the final of Bayern Munich's Centenary Tournament at the Olympic stadium last night.

Fabien Barthez suffered a miserable debut for Manchester United in the final of Bayern Munich's Centenary Tournament at the Olympic stadium last night.

David Beckham missed a second-half penalty and United's defence looked badly out of sorts for most of the game as the tournament hosts gained some sort of revenge for their defeat in the 1999 European Cup final. Barthez made a number of impressive saves during the first period but was beaten by a Mehmet Scholl penalty on the brink of half-time before Alexander Zickler struck twice in the second half. Quinton Fortune's late effort was no more than a consolation goal for the Premiership champions.

Scholl was a continual thorn in United's side with his darting runs from midfield, and he set up a good Bayern chance when he spotted Roque Santa Cruz running into space. The Paraguayan striker found himself one-on-one with Barthez, who hesitated as he confronted his opponent and was fortunate to see the ball bobble off him and trickle the wrong side of the post as Santa Cruz sprinted after it.

Barthez, United's £7.8m signing from Monaco this summer, was left exposed by his defenders, who could not cope with a long ball into the area, but he stood up well to deflect Zickler's shot from point-blank range. United, looking unfamiliar in their new navy-blue away kit, replied with a Dwight Yorke header which flashed past the post following Phil Neville's deep left-wing cross in the 27th minute.

United fell behind just before the interval, Santa Cruz going down theatrically under a challenge from Mickaël Silvestre to earn his side a penalty which Scholl slammed high into the net over the diving Barthez.

Early in the second half, Beckham tested Oliver Kahn in the Bayern goal with a dipping free-kick from outside the box. The big German international was again equal to the England midfielder when United were awarded a penalty in the 51st minute. Kahn's rash challenge felled Fortune as the South African tried to round him, but he pulled off a superb diving save to push away Beckham's well-struck spot-kick and preserve Bayern's lead.

Bayern went two up in the 62nd minute when Jens Jeremies' flighted ball into the area was flicked into the roof of the net by the head of Zickler. The third goal arrived seven minutes later when Michael Tarnat crossed from the left and Silvestre was at fault as Zickler again eluded him to nod home Bayern's third.

United sent on Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Ronnie Wallwork as the game approached its final quarter of an hour, with Beckham among the men making way as Sir Alex Ferguson tried to retrieve something positive from the match.

In the 85th minute Fortune's persistence down the left paid off when he hooked the ball over Kahn for United's goal.