Bayern Munich vs Manchester United preview - Moyes ready to gamble on Rooney

Posted Wednesday, April 09, 2014 by PA

David Moyes insists he is not putting Wayne Rooney's World Cup hopes in jeopardy by playing him against Bayern Munich - but the Manchester United manager has refused to reveal the severity of the striker's toe injury.

Rooney has travelled to Munich for United's crucial Champions League quarter-final against Bayern despite fears over a toe injury that ruled him out of United's 4-0 win at Newcastle on Saturday.

The England striker is expected to have a pain-killing injection in the toe on the day of the second leg.

That scenario evokes uncomfortable memories of what happened here at the Allianz Arena four years ago. Rooney injured his ankle in the first leg and was rushed back for the return fixture, only to be taken off after 55 minutes.

The 28-year-old only played three more games that year and went on to have a disappointing World Cup, partly because of the injury.

When asked whether he was risking Rooney's long-term fitness by playing the striker in Germany, Moyes said: "We think it's okay.

"We wouldn't do anything medically wrong. We take advice from our doctors and the people who advise us.

"Everybody knows the character Wayne is and the kind of player he is. He is determined to play and if he is determined we would be mad not to [play him.]"

Moyes is right. With the score level at 1-1, United do need Rooney to play in Bavaria. But England need the striker to be match-fit by the time they arrive in Brazil too.

Moyes said last Friday that United would assess Rooney's injury over the weekend to determine the nature of the problem.

The Scot offered up the idea that the injury, caused in the first leg, could be severe bruising, a hairline fracture or a chipped bone.

United recently installed a multi-million pound scanning suite at the Aon Training Complex in Carrington, so it was slightly bizarre to hear from Moyes that United had been unable to diagnose their star player.

"We've not had clarification on the injury yet," the United manager said when first asked.

When pushed on the matter, Moyes conceded that the club did know what the injury was - he was just unwilling to divulge the information with the gathered media in press conference room at the Allianz Arena.

"The doctors know," Moyes said.

What is not in doubt is Rooney's commitment to play in a game in which United must score to make it through to the last four due to Bastian Schweinsteiger's away goal at Old Trafford last Tuesday.

"He is able to train and is massively keen to be involved," Moyes said.

"He's not trained all week so we need to be wary of that. He is happy to take an injection which shows you his feeling for the game and the club and we need him as well. He is a really important player."

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola expects United to park the bus when they come to the Allianz Arena.

The Spaniard - and Bayern - have found life tough against English teams on a few occasions recently due to the tactics employed by their opponents.

Two years ago Chelsea edged into the final with a 3-2 aggregate win that was characterised by stubborn defending and fast counter-attacks.

It was the same story in Bavaria the following month when the Blues defended for their lives and beat Bayern in their own stadium on penalties to lift the trophy for the first time.

"They are so defensive," the Bayern coach said when asked about his experience of playing English teams.

"They use the counter-attack very well.

"It's always difficult when one team stays there just to defend, and waits until you make a mistake.

"Obviously when they play at home they attack a little bit more but when they play away they defend.

"Maybe (United manager) David Moyes thinks another thing, but I think they are going to wait back with eight or nine players in the box, await our mistake and wait for a free-kick or a corner to punish us."

Guardiola said he only had 14 first-team players to choose from for the match.

Xherdan Shaqiri, Thiago Alcantara, Diego Contento, Tom Starke, Lukas Raeder and Holger Badstuber are injured while Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez are suspended after being cautioned in the first leg.