Fergie pinpoints Bayern danger men

zocoss SG

Bayern Munich v Manchester United

Rooney9 SG

Bayern is a tough nut to crack, but I have confidence united can beat them and progress to the semis. good chance to progress to the finals, where if they beat munchen, they will face one of the two french team.

TIB657M SG

Revives the rivaries of 1999/2000 finalle edition.

Rooney9 SG

when is the date of these matches eh? next week or the week after?

zocoss SG

The quarter-finals are played on a home-and–away basis, with the first legs scheduled for 30 and 31 March and the return matches the following week, on 6 and 7 April. The four victorious teams will at this point know their semi-final opponents. The first legs of the last-four ties will be contested on 20 and 21 April, with the second legs on 27 April and 28 April.

An additional draw will define whether the winner of semi-final 1 or the winner of semi-final 2 will be considered, for administrative purposes, the home side in the final, which will take place on Saturday 22 May at Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium (20.45CET kick-off).

CKeer SG

I think United got a very very good draw leh. At least if United managed to siam Inter, Barca and Arsenal, 3 of the teams with the highest potential to win the league.

But still, one step at a time la, could we be seeing the 89th 90th min goals again?

Rooney9 SG

FLETCHER: WE WON'T BE PRESUMPTUOUS

Fletcher - keeping his focus.

Darren Fletcher is confident Manchester United will not get ahead of themselves by believing they are assured of a Champions League final berth.

United managed to avoid favourites Barcelona in today's quarter-final draw and also landed in the other half to Arsenal and Inter Milan.

It means if Bayern Munich can be beaten in the last eight, French opposition will await in the semi-final as Lyon and Bordeaux do battle in an all-Gallic affair.

Unsurprisingly, United's odds to make their third successive final have tumbled dramatically, but Fletcher is not getting carried away.

United's only victory in seven clashes with Bayern came in that never-to-be-forgotten final in 1999 and with Bayern impressively disposed of Fiorentina in the last round, Fletcher is adamant United will treat the German giants with caution.

"You can be too presumptuous and start looking too far ahead," he said. "People can say various things about the draw but the fact is these teams are in this competition because they have beaten big sides along the way.

"You don't get to the quarter or semi-final of the Champions League by being a poor side.

"The warning sides are there. If you go into a tie underestimating a team like Lyon for instance, you will be out."

Behind Barcelona, Fletcher rates Bayern the equal of any team in the competition.

It did not appear that way midway through the group phase, when Bayern had collected just four points from four games.

But they hammered Juventus in Turin to reach the last 16 and one-time United target Arjen Robben scored a stunning goal in Florence as Bayern beat Fiorentina on away goals in the last round.

With Franck Ribery in his squad as well, Louis van Gaal has plenty of pace with which to attack United from the flanks, while Marc van Bommel and Phillipp Lahm provide experience in midfield, even if German international Bastian Schweinsteiger will be suspended for the first leg at the Allianz Arena on March 30.

"It is a tough draw," Fletcher added. "Outside of Barcelona it is probably as tough as you could have got.

"We played them in pre-season and we were very impressed with them under Louis van Gaal.

"Since Christmas they have hit a bit of form. They have understood the way Louis van Gaal wants them to play.

"In Robben and Ribery they have two of the best wingers in world football and are definitely a real danger in the tournament."

Sbao sheng89 SG

Rooney can Win anything for Man U...

sand king SG

Nice! Arsenal got the toughest draw of all!

omgukilledkenny SG

Ah..Robben!

iceFatboy SG

well, there are talks that Jose/Laurent the top managers are in contention for MU's job, and this could be their 'audition"..

Rooney9 SG

Sir Alex Ferguson feels stopping Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben is key if Manchester United are to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

United head to the Allianz Arena for Tuesday's quarter-final first leg and Ferguson has pinpointed Ribery and former Chelsea winger Robben as Bayern's danger men.

But, while Ferguson admires Ribery's ability, he believes the 26-year-old is not quite in the same bracket as Lionel Messi and his own striker Wayne Rooney.

"Robben and Ribery are the ones who have been carrying the banner for Bayern," Ferguson told The People.

"They have been behind in games so many times and one of those two has always rescued them, so they are obviously the players to watch.

"Ribery is a fine player and I like him a lot. I'm not sure he's up with Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney, but he's a good player. As for Robben, he's one that got away.

"We were close to signing him when he was at PSV Eindhoven, but Chelsea had that arrangement and some sort of operation with PSV because they put Alex there for a couple of years.

"Robben is talented and we know what he can do. He plays wide right and cuts in on to his left for his shots and he has a tremendous left-foot shot, but I think we will be all right coping with him.

"I think we have the full-backs to cope with them. In this situation you hope they perform well.

"It's one thing coping with the wingers' threat, but it's what Robben and Ribery do when we get the ball, and that will be the key for us."

Meanwhile, Ferguson has admitted he does not envisage future Champions League finals to carry the same drama as when United scored two late goals to beat Bayern 2-1 in the 1999 showpiece.

He added: "It's the most dramatic moment of my career, definitely.

"Nobody will ever win a European Cup like that again. Every time a team is 1-0 up with three minutes left, they will keep thinking of Manchester United.

"How did we win it? Even now I don't know - it was just fate. But, don't forget, that particular team had kept scoring late that season, so it wasn't an accident.

"But when you are 1-0 down and the fourth official puts up three minutes for injury-time, you can't think you are going to win it."

CKeer SG

Sir Alex Ferguson feels stopping Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben is key if Manchester United are to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

I'm actually glad that Podolski returned to FC Klon and Toni returned to Italy with Roma. Dont get me wrong, i'm not underestimating the German Giant but i do personally feel that they lacked a targetman up front with the 2 departures.

Mario Gomez is not playing well at the moment (37 matches, 14 goals), might be because of the huge price tag. Klose is injured (25 matches, 4 goals). Olic can conjoure odd goals (27 matches 9 goals). It seems like Bayern is depending too heavily on Ribery (18 matches, 4 goals) and Robben (26 matches, 14 goals).

I think United should be wary of the threat that Van Buyten provides in setpieces. He's strong and can head the ball really well. He already has 9 goals this season and has scored at least 3 goals in the past 4 seasons. Not bad for a 32 years old central defender.