In the build-up to Tuesday's quarter-final first leg at the
Allianz Arena, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge suggested his
team were scared about trying to keep Wayne Rooney quiet.
As the man who must overcome a team who hail from the "level
one" station he can only dream of eight months into his work, Van
Gaal could have done without the suggestion of an inferiority
complex. And the Dutchman was quick to turn it on its head, even
though he accepts Rooney has a special talent that will not be
easily quelled.
"I never have fear and my players don't have any fear either,"
said Bayern manager Van Gaal. "We value Rooney's quality. He is a
super footballer.
"When he was younger, I often wondered whether he had the vision
in his game. He has developed that now and is very hard to mark out
of the game. But we can manage because we also have quality.
Ferguson and his players should be scared of that."
Bayern are sweating on the fitness of former Chelsea star Arjen
Robben, who aggravated a groin injury in Saturday's defeat by
Stuttgart.
It is the kind of muscular problem that has plagued Robben
throughout his career and he has never given the impression of
being too keen to try to play through.
Van Gaal will give his fellow countryman every chance, knowing
he is capable of the individual brilliance that helped dispose of
Fiorentina in the last round. But he has vowed no chances will be
taken.
"We need a player like Robben against Manchester United but if
he is not 100%, he doesn't play," Van Gaal said. "You have always
got to be a bit careful with a player who dribbles at such high
intensity. He is not injured but his muscle is tired."
Robben's wing twin Franck Ribery is more likely to
be involved despite a nagging ankle injury, although goalkeeper
Jorg Butt seemed to suggest Bayern would adopt a cautious approach,
possibly more geared towards preventing United bagging an away goal
rather than worrying too much about whether they find the net
themselves.
Yet to achieve that, Bayern need the one component he believes
United have in abundance and his own squad are still trying to
generate, organisation.
"Organisation at United is always good," Van Gaal said. "I am
jealous of it. If we had this organisation at Bayern Munich we
would be a step ahead."
There is a link between Van Gaal and the most famous of the
seven meetings between Bayern and United, given he was coach of
Barcelona, whose Nou Camp stadium was the scene of that staggering
Red Devils triumph in 1999.
Van Gaal was present to witness Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer scored the injury-time goals that changed the course of
United's history. Like most who were present, he still struggles to
comprehend exactly what happened.
"It was incredible. I still find it incredible," Van Gaal
recalled. "I was in the stadium and I remember what a high
intensity occasion it was. It was fascinating to watch, although I
was not at Bayern Munich then. Now I don't think I would find it so
good."