Roo’s absence won’t stop Man U’s Champions League title quest: Fergie

MUNICH - A defiant Alex Ferguson on Tuesday insisted that Manchester United will win the Champions League even without injured striker Wayne Rooney.

Fergie suffered a double nightmare here as United crashed to Bayern Munich and Rooney limped off with an injured right ankle.

The defeat was an eerie mirror image of United’s famous Champions League final triumph over the Germans in 1999, when the Red Devils fought back from a goal behind to win with two last-gasp strikes.

According to The Sun, Ferguson was in no mood for surrender.

“An away goal is always an advantage, no question about that. And the tie is not dead. Bayern have a strong chance but on our own ground we should have a real chance of progressing,” Fergie was quoted, as saying.

He also criticized his team for constantly giving the ball away.

“Our possession was not good enough. But the real crux was giving the ball away and it caused us to defend when we didn’t need to defend. We got our goal very easy. Maybe it was too early but we had outstanding chances to win the tie through Wayne in the first and second half,” he said.

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal said his side would have a big advantage if Rooney misses the return match.

“Rooney is United’s most important player. Look at the statistics, he has 34 goals this season, then they have 11 own goals as their second top scorer and Berbatov with 10 goals. So that’s how important he is to United,” he said. (ANI)