CL DEBATE: IF WAYNE ROONEY IS INJURED, ARE BAYERN MUNICH FAVOURITES TO KNOCK OUT MANCHESTER UNITED? Mar 31, 2010 7:22:00 AM After Rooney hobbled off

Bayern Munich coach Louis Van Gaal said it best post-match last night when he summed up the importance of Wayne Rooney to Manchester United, declaring: "He is their most important player and if you look at the statistics, then you see that Rooney has scored 31 goals. After Rooney, their second top-scorer is the opposition with own goals.”

Van Gaal actually got his figures wrong. Rooney has scored 34 goals, while the club's third top-scorer is own goals, 10 of them, just behind Dimitar Berbatov with 12. But, the point remains.

Arjen Robben even went as far to say in the build-up to the first leg that United are “almost a one man team”. "Rooney has been phenomenal this season,” the Flying Dutchman explained. “But at the moment he seems to be their only solution: What about if he doesn't function?”

We should soon find out how United function without Rooney as the 24-year-old seems almost certain to miss the return leg at Old Trafford next Wednesday after hobbling off at full time last night with an ankle injury. A diagnosis of the seriousness of the problem hasn’t been forthcoming just yet, but judging from the images a twisted ankle at the very least has been suffered.



The injury threatens to derail United’s season at the worst time as they also host Chelsea in a key top-of-the-table Premier League clash this weekend. The alternatives to Rooney in attack are not great. With Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck injured, and Federico Macheda having struggled all season with fitness and form, Berbatov is the only ready replacement in the starting XI. And the Bulgarian has never impressed since his whopping £30.75 million move from Tottenham Hotspur in 2008. This term, Berbatov has scored 12 goals in 35 appearances, and none in Europe.

Rooney is United’s only world class player in the front two departments. Without the England star, the Red Devils suddenly become far more ordinary and workmanlike, losing that special spark that every team needs.

An added bonus for Bayern will be the return of two key players in Manchester – Bastian Schweinsteiger and the aforementioned Robben. The latter, when fit, is second only in the world to Lionel Messi in terms of skill and penetration. Meanwhile, Schweinsteiger’s quantity will be important against the tenacious Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick.

Home advantage will still count for a lot next week, but one thing is for certain – if Rooney misses the second leg then Bayern’s chances of qualification improve immeasurably.