Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng has identified Wayne Rooney as the main threat from Manchester United and does not believe reports ruling the Englishman out of Wednesday’s Champions League tie.
Rooney was missing from United’s squad as they beat Newcastle 4-0 due to a toe injury but is expected to return for the second leg of their quarter final clash with holders Bayern Munich.
Boateng told the Bayern official website: “I don’t think he will miss the return. But if it’s true, it would certainly be a big loss for United.
“Rooney is the key man for United. He always makes himself available, he goes looking for the ball, he takes the free kicks and corners and he’s always good for a goal.”
The centre-half then went on to stress the importance of a strong performance at the Allianz Arena, following their poor 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last week.
“Every player is already focused on Wednesday,” the versatile centre-half stated. “We’re all concentrating very hard in training. We shouldn’t aim for a goalless draw and we don’t want to either.
“We know what we’re capable of, and we also know we’ll need a very, very good performance on Wednesday if we’re to go through.”
United have momentum following their 4-0 win at the weekend whereas Bayern have just come off a 1-0 loss to Augsburg, ending their unbeaten Bundesliga run. In addition to this, the German side are without Javi Martinez and Bastian Schweinsteiger through suspension and Thiago Alcantara and Xherdan Shaqiri have been ruled out through injury.
By Phil Wellbrook
