Champions League Second Leg Preview: Manchester United vs. FC Bayern Munich

Date : 7 April 2010

Venue : Old Trafford, Manchester

Bayern won a memorable Champions League clash against Bayern in the first leg at the Allianz Arena.

Wayne Rooney opened the scoring early on in the first minute following an error by Martin Demichelis, but Franck Ribery equalized in the 77th miute via a freekick which deflected off Rooney. Ivica Olic stole the show in the 92nd minute by grabbing the winner.

Recent Form

Bayern have been in good form lately. Following their league defeat against Stuttgart, they beat United and followed it up with a win against Schalke. The win came at a price as Bayern played the majority of the game with just 10 men due to Hamit Altintop's sending off in the 41st minute.

The goals were scored by Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller in the first half. Kevin Kuranyi scored Schalke's goal.

The players were given a day off from training to help them regenerate ahead of Wednesday.

United, following their defeat to Bayern, lost to Chelsea, 2-1.

Chelsea led the game with goals from Joe Cole and Didier Drogba.

United got one back late on through Federic Macheda. United were perhaps feeling weary following a journey from Munich to Manchester.

In the Champions League, Bayern managed to snap United's away record this season by inflicting upon United their first defeat away fom home. United have by far been the better team when compared to Bayern in Europe this season. Bayern have needed massive comebacks at the very end to progress from the group stages as well as from the first knockout round.

Recent Results

Bayern:

Schalke 1-2 Bayern

Bayern 2-1 United

Bayern 1-2 Stuttgart

Schalke 0-1 Bayern (a.e.t)

Frankfurt 2-1 Bayern

United:

United 1-2 Chelsea

Bayern 2-1 United

Bolton 0- 4 United

United 2-1 Liverpool

United 3-0 Fulham

Team News and Predicted Line-ups.

United :

Wayne Rooney will most probably have to watch the match from the stands. The United front man was injured in the dying minutes of the first leg in a clash with Mario Gomez. He will most probably return for the semifinals provided that United make it.

Predicted Line-up (4-5-1): Van der Sar- Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra- Valencia, Fletcher, Giggs, Scholes, Nani- Berbatov

Bayern:

Arjen Robben was not part of the matchday squad against Schalke as he was still suffering from a muscle strain. He will definitely be traveling to Manchester, however, Louis Van Gaal might not start him if he is not completely fit.

Due to a collision with Jefferson Farfan, Daniel van Buyten had to be subbed off after just 22 minutes. He will be traveling with the squad though and will most probably be fit for the game.

Bastian Schweinsteiger will return for the second leg. He was suspended for the first leg.

Predicted Line-up (4-4-2) : Jorg Butt- Lahm, Demichelis, Van Buyten, Badstuber- Altintop/Robben, Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger, Ribery- Muller/Gomez, Olic.

Tactics

Louis Van Gaal surprised everyone last week by not starting Anatoliy Tymoschuk, but instead starting Danijel Pranjic as well as Hamit Altintop. Miro Klose's exclusion from the starting 11 also came as a bit of a surprise despite his current form.

When Sir Alex Ferguson's team struck last week, it seemed to be a question of how many they would put past Bayern. At the end that question was answered by Ivica Olic.

Martin Demichelis, for a change, played very well against Schalke at the weekend.

United will have to attack and take the game to Bayern.

Bayern, however do not know how to defend and will not keep a clean sheet. The only way Bayern know how to play is by going forward. Last week, Mark Van Bommel had said that 0-0 would be a good result for Bayern and they ended up conceding before the second minute mark.

Bayern thus also have to attack. A 3-2 loss would be enough to see them progress. Perhaps, Louis Van Gaal will ask his men to take a page out of Schalke's book or simply come up with something spectacular.

It could turn out to be a match amongst the wingers if Arjen Robben does start. And hopefully, Van Bommel has learnt that long balls are mostly useless.

Previous Meetings

'09-'010 Champions League Quarter Finals:

First Leg: Bayern 2-1 United

'01-'02 Champions League Second Group Stage:

United 0-0 Bayern

Bayern 1-1 United

'00-'01 Champions League Quarterfinals:

Bayern Munich 2-1 United

United 0-1 Bayern

Parallels with History

United:

In 2007, Sir Alex's men lost the first leg away to Roma, 2-1. They lost to Portsmouth during the weekend, 2-1. When Roma came to visit, United gave them a 7-1 thrashing and won the Premier League as well that year. If you think that's strange, Bayern's story should be even more strange.

Bayern:

In 2001, Bayern played Schalke in March. The game against Schalke was sandwiched in between two clashes with United. The first leg, however, was away and the second leg at home. Bayern won the home leg, 2-1 with goals from Giovanne Elber and Mehmet Scholl and a consolation from Ryan Giggs.

Bayern were however beaten 2-1 by Schalke and yet went on to win the Bundesliga title. The fact that Bayern beat Schalke may prove to be a bad omen for plenty of Bayern supporters. Bayern won the away leg in Manchester, 1-0 via a goal from Paulo Sergio.

Prediction

United are an extremely strong side at home. Bayern have done better in away games than they have in home games in the Champions League with the match against Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi being the sole exception.

When Bayern play well, they tend to become over confident. United cannot be underestimated in Manchester. Ryan Giggs believes United can overcome Bayern. This is what he had to say:

“I am confident that we can raise our game at home. We have done it many times before and we’ll have to do it again.”

When United lose the first leg, they hardly every come back to win the tie, with the exception in recent years being Roma. Bayern on the other hand, have never lost at Old Trafford.

It depends on which Bayern will show up. If the Bayern that played against Schalke and United show up, United can expect a tough night.

When momentum is with Bayern, they fail to make use of it. Man United, on the other hand, play their best on European nights. Bayern, thus, have the propensity to get a thrashing at Old Trafford due to their poor defence.

Some might call it wishful thinking; some might call it insanity. I, however, think that Bayern for once might get the formula right.

Final Score: United 3-2 Bayern