)
Manchester United have been drawn in Group A of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League along with Bayern Munich but how did it go when these two teams last collided almost a decade ago?
The 2023/24 UEFA Champions League season begins with the group-stage draws held in Monaco where all 32 participants find out their fate.
The draws have once again produced so many tantalising fixtures to look forward to but very few are more appealing than Manchester United v Bayern Munich.
The English and German juggernauts both have strong pedigrees at the highest level of European football and have produced some historic battles over the years in the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United v Bayern Munich head-to-head
Manchester United and Bayern Munich have locked horns 11 times before in the Champions League and the Germans have the upper hand.
Bayern Munich have won four times compared to just two wins for Manchester United while this fixture has ended in a draw five times.
The first time Manchester United beat Bayern Munich was also the most memorable time and arguably the most interesting Champions League final in history.
The 1999 final in Barcelona saw Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United come back from a goal down to beat Bayern Munich with two late goals in injury time by Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
)
United would not beat Bayern again until five games later but even that was ultimately a defeat as they won the 2010 quarter-final second leg 3-2 but crashed out on away goals having initially lost the first leg 2-1 in Bavaria.
In fact, they would only play one more tie, two more games against each other, which also came in the quarter-finals of the 2013/14 season.
The last time Manchester United played against Bayern Munich
The last time these two teams played each other was precisely on Wednesday, April 9, 2014 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Bayern Munich led by Pep Guardiola won the game 3-1 to secure qualification past David Moyes’ Manchester United but it was by no means a ride in the park for the Germans as the scoreline suggests.
)
The first leg eight days prior had ended in a 1-1 draw, Bastian Schweinsteiger’s close-range volley cancelled out Nemanja Vidic’s header and gave Bayern Munich the confidence of an away goal heading into the second leg.
However, that advantage dissipated into thin air when Patrice Evra put Manchester United in front in the 57th minute in rather spectacular fashion as well, cancelling Bayern’s away goal and putting the visitors ahead on the night and in the tie in one fell swoop.
Sweat immediately gathered on Pep Guardiola’s bald head, knowing his team now needed two unreplied goals in just over 30 minutes to qualify, lucky for him, their response was swift.
Mario Mandzukic headed home the equaliser just two minutes later, capitalising on a poor defensive effort by connecting to a Franck Ribery cross.
From that point on, Bayern cranked up the pressure and United would eventually cave and relinquish parity.
Bayern’s assault mostly happened from the wings and it yielded results again when Thomas Muller finished first time from a low Arjen Robben cross to take the lead in the game and the tie on the 68th minute mark.
Robben went from provider to scorer in the 76th minute, sealing the deal with a trademark goal, cutting in from the right onto his famed left foot and sending a deflected shot past the helpless David De Gea.
)
That was all she wrote, Bayern Munich won 3-1 at the Allianz Arena, 4-2 on aggregate but that was not the full story of the last time Manchester United played against the Bavarians in the Champions League.
The players involved and where they are now
David De Gea’s recent departure from the club means none of the 18 players who represented Manchester United on the pitch and on the bench nine years ago is still at the club.
Bayern Munich on the other hand still have Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller on their books.
12 of the 22 starters on the night are no longer active footballers, either officially retired or just without a club.
Bayern Munich’s starting lineup
Manuel Neuer - 37 years old, still at Bayern Munich.
Jerome Boateng - 34 years old, without a club.
Dante - 39 years old, currently plays for OGC Nice.
Philipp Lahm - 39 years old, retired.
David Alaba - 31 years old, currently plays for Real Madrid.
Toni Kroos - 33 years old, currently plays for Real Madrid.
Mario Gotze - 31 years old, currently plays for Eintracht Frankfurt.
Thomas Muller - 33 years old, still at Bayern Munich.
Arjen Robben - 39 years old, retired.
Franck Ribery - 40 years old, retired.
Mario Mandzukic - 37 years old, retired. Assistant coach of the Croatian national team.
Manchester United’s starting lineup
David De Gea - 32 years old, without a club.
Chris Smalling - 33 years old, currently plays for AS Roma.
Nemanja Vidic - 41 years old, retired.
Phil Jones - 31 years old, without a club.
Patrice Evra - 42 years old, retired.
Michael Carrick - 42 years old, retired. Current manager of Middlesbrough.
Darren Fletcher - 39 years old, retired. Current technical director of Manchester United.
Shinji Kagawa - 34 years old, currently plays for Cerezo Osaka.
Antonio Valencia - 38 years old, retired.
Danny Welbeck - 32 years old, currently plays for Brighton.
Wayne Rooney - 38 years old, retired, current manager of Dallas FC.
Bayern Munich’s substitutes
Bayern Munich had a light bench filled with youngsters as they were missing key players including the goalscorer from the first leg, Bastian Schweinsteiger who was suspended for this game.
20-year-old goalkeeper Lukas Raeder was on the bench for Bayern Munich, he’s now without a club at 29 years old.
Belgian centre-back Daniel Van Buyten now 45 years old and retired, Brazilian fullback Rafinha now plays for Sao Paulo at 37 years old and Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro now retired at 44 years old were all on the bench for Bayern Munich.
The rest of the bench was populated with youngsters, most notably Tottenham and Denmark star, 28-year-old Pierre-Emile Hojberg along with Mitchell Weiser and Patrick Weihrauch.
)
Manchester United’s substitutes
David Moyes named a pretty strong bench with a few exceptions in goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard who is now 39 years old and retired along with left-back Alexander Buttner who plays nowadays for De Graafschap as a 34-year-old.
Legends Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs have long retired at 44 and 49 years old respectively but were unused substitutes in this game.
Javier Hernandez Chicharito is now 35 years old and plays in the United States with LA Galaxy as well as Ashley Young who is still going strong in the Premier League having just signed for Everton.
The last man on the bench was the fresh-faced teenager, Adnan Januzaj who is now 28 years old and plays for Sevilla.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)