Strongest Manchester United lineup To Face Bayern: Start Giggs, Kagawa And Bench Fletcher

When David Moyes leads his troops out at Old Trafford against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night, it will perhaps be the grandest of stages the Scot will ever have to face in his managerial career. A home clash in the quarter finals of Europe’s elite club competition doesn’t come every day. It will be an encounter where the home side will be under scrutiny and severe pressure right from the word go as the Red Devils will look to salvage some respect from the Football fraternity with a gritty display, in a season which is leaving any bare memories. Can United give their all at hand and get something from the encounter which looks daunting by each passing second we near the clash?

What will be the strongest lineup for the Red Devils against Pep Guardiola’s ruthless Germans?  We here at Soccersouls have the answers.

Goalkeeper:

David De Gea will be in front of a cannon right from the start and can barely expect to have a lapse of concentration against the Bavarians. Guardiola’s side has got goals from anywhere in the pitch and with the trio of Mandzukic, Robben and Ribery leading the line up front, it would require only a miracle for the Spaniard to keep a clean sheet.

Defenders:

If United are to replicate any kind of the start similar against Aston Villa from the weekend, the tie will be well over within the first twenty minutes. The United defence looked very uncomfortable against Villa’s pace up front and were stretched to the limit in the first half.

The defence is quite a concern for the Red Devils as right back Rafael who was subbed off against Aston Villa missed yesterday’s training session adding to the Moyes’ troubles. United coming up against Franck Ribery, who has the ability to score, create, and beat players with his sheer pace will most probably face Chris Smalling who will be deputised at right back if Rafael fails to recover on time.

At left back, youngster Alexander Buttner knows what he is up against in his International team mate Arjen Robben. The 25 year old has the grandest of stages to shine with Patrice Evra suspended for the first leg. Both the fullback’ misery would be compounded thanks to Alaba and Lahm overloading out wide and occasionally drafting in the middle to make space for the wingers. Phil Jones and Nemanja Vidic should play at the heart of the defense trying to keep the prolific Mario Mandzukic at bay.

However, latest report from Dailymail, suggest that Jonny Evans is also back in training along with Chris Smalling.

Midfield:

Pep Guardiola’s side are absolutely relentless in their pressure in the middle of the park and in the final third coupled with their free flowing tiki-taka game game play. If I were to be David Moyes, I would look for extra caution in the middle drafting Michael Carrick alongside Ryan Giggs as my double pivot. They both need to pick the late runs that Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger would make lest get absolutely crucified in domination.

Giggs, United’s goto man since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson should be called upon once again. The veteran midfielder rolled back few years and played a vital role against Olympiacos and should once again be involved tonight.

Thiago Alcantara is injured for the Germans as Mario Gotze should take his deserved place in the middle, thus Moyes should advise his player to stretch the play out wide whenever they get the ball. To accomplish this, Danny Welbeck can play as a left winger/striker and his runs in the channels might cause problems for Lahm, like Oxlade Chamberlain did in Munich. Anton Valencia should start out in the wide right. With Juan Mata ineligible to take part, Shinji Kagawa, who, with his determined performance against Villa in the weekend, should get the nod as the central attacking midfielder.

Strikeforce:

Wayne Rooney will lead the line up front getting occasional help from Welbeck and can also drop deep in a hole to aid his team in the middle and make sure he doesn’t get isolated up front. United’s best chances lies in taking advantage of Dante’s absence and even though Javi Martinez is more than a replacement, the Spaniard is prone to an occasional mistake.