So much for living the dream. This ended with a nightmare in
widescreen for Sir Alex Ferguson.
To his right, the sight of Ivica Olic doing to Manchester United
what his team once did to Bayern Munich; while to his left the
sight of Wayne Rooney writhing in agony and clutching his ankle
with what looked like a nasty injury.
For Ferguson the World Cup would not have been the concern. That
is England’s problem and what a problem it could be.
Late sting: Ivica Olic strikes in stoppage time to
complete Bayern's comeback
But for United’s manager there is Chelsea this weekend and what
now promises to be a difficult second leg against a Bayern side
that were rather better than most of us anticipated.
‘We are not level one,’ declared Louis van Gaal during the
build-up. It would seem he was telling a bit of a fib.
Only if these two teams meet in another Champions League final
will Bayern ever feel they can avenge the events of Barcelona 11
years ago.
Early doors: Rooney strikes United's opening goal
on 64 seconds to volley past Bayern goalkeeper Butt
But last night would have gone some way to healing those scars,
the manner in which Van Gaal’s team seized the advantage in this
tie hurting United as much as an apparently accidental stamp by
Mario Gomez seemed to hurt Rooney. There was a sense of
inevitability about both events here last night.
Just as a small group of Italians at the FA and the entire
English nation have been living in fear of an injury to the
remarkable Rooney, so United would have been fearful of a
stoppage-time winner.
In this case not an effort from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but
Bayern’s Ivica Olic, after 91 minutes and 57 seconds. Bayern will
say there was one crucial difference, however. That on this
occasion the best team won. In 1999 United were every inch a team
snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Rib blow: Ribery's free-kick deflects off of Rooney
to net Bayern's late equaliser
Last night, though, Bayern always looked the better side, apart
from a difficult opening spell.
Ferguson described United as ‘average’ during a brief half-time
interview and average they most certainly were — their failure to
build on Rooney’s opening goal something that will disappoint them
enormously.
They were nothing like their usual selves, an inability to
retain possession proving a real problem and one that Bayern were
only too happy to take advantage of. Not even a subtle change in
tactics by Ferguson provided a solution.
Even after dragging Paul Scholes back into a more defensive role
and pushing Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick forward, they still
struggled to keep the ball.
It enabled players like Franck Ribery and Hamit Altintop to pose
a constant threat down the flanks and through the middle.
Pain for Wayne: Rooney causes concern after going
down with an ankle injury
Ribery might not have been fully fit but he was a ubiquitous
presence, inspired no doubt by Ferguson’s assertion that he is not
in the class of Rooney and Lionel Messi.
Had it not been for the heroics of Edwin van der Sar, the margin
of victory could have been considerably more. Van der Sar was
outstanding, sparing the blushes of his defensive colleagues time
after time.
And yet United started so well. With Arjen Robben confined to
the stands and a bloke dressed like Batman momentarily unable to
serve and protect, Rooney continued his remarkable season last
night by scoring what remains a potentially significant away
goal.
Worrying sight: Wayne Rooney leaves the Allianz
Arena on crutches
It was one of the less spectular of Rooney’s 34 goals, the
brilliant young striker taking full advantage of the masked Martin
Demichelis’s sudden inability to remain on his feet by driving home
a deflected free-kick from Nani.
For Bayern it certainly came as a surprise. Fearful, no doubt,
of a late United goal after what happened at the Nou Camp in 1999,
they may not have expected to suffer such a setback so early on
this occasion.
Rooney struck not in the last minute but very nearly the first,
his goal coming after just 64 seconds.
Van Gaal wasn’t telling lies after all. Robben might not have
been injured but the poor lad’s muscles were so tired he did not
even make it onto the bench, leaving the Germans without their best
player.
His presence in the directors’ box proved all the more painful
when Rooney struck after little more than a minute, the United
forward meeting a delivery from Nani that spun off Mark van Bommel
with a volley he put into the roof of the Bayern net.
Ferguson said in his pre-match interview that he would prefer a
goal to a clean sheet and this amounted to the perfect start, so
precious are away goals in this competition.
But Robben’s absence does mean Bayern could be even stronger
come next Wednesday and that will worry Ferguson.
BAYERN MUNICH (4-4-2):
Butt; Lahm, Van Buyten, Demichelis, Badstuber; Hamit Altintop
(Klose 86min),
Van Bommel, Pranjic (Tymoschuk 89), Ribery; Muller (Gomez 73),
Olic.
Booked: Badstuber,
Olic.
MANCHESTER UNITED
(4-3-2-1):
Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Fletcher, Carrick
(Valencia 70), Scholes; Nani (Giggs 82), Park (Berbatov 70);
Rooney.
Booked: Neville, Scholes,
Rooney.
Man of the match: Edwin
van der Sar.
Referee: Frank de
Bleeckere (Belgium).
United had their chances to extend the lead. Nani squandered one
excellent opportunity after a delightful one-two with Fletcher,
while Rooney forced a fine save from Hans-Jorg Butt and Nemanja
Vidic sent a thumping header against the crossbar in the 83rd
minute.
But when Bayern were awarded a free-kick in the 77th minute
Ribery unleashed a shot that flew through the United wall and past
Van der Sar via Rooney’s backside.
Worse, of course, would follow for Rooney and United. Seconds
after that collision with Gomez, Olic seized on a moment’s
hesitation
by Patrice Evra and burst towards goal. First he accelerated
past United’s left back and then Rio Ferdinand, before driving a
left-foot finish past Van der Sar.
For United it was a first defeat in 18 on their European
travels, but one even Ferguson conceded was richly deserved.
