Good game, good result. Had you asked me if I would take a 1-1 draw before the match began I would have bitten your hand off for it. It's a draw not a win and yes Bayern got an way goal which means United have to go to Alianz Areana and score at least a goal and not concede to stand a chance of going through, but at least United showed that they can manage a goal against them. And if it wasn't for poor finishing from Welbeck United could have had two goals. With that being said though Welbeck had a terrific game. He had the Bayern defence on the backfoot every time he got near the ball. His pace and energy forced the Munich defence into uncharacteristic mistakes.
When the line-up was announced my reaction was shock. Kagawa was again not starting after the great game he had against Villa and I thought "oh well that's #MoyesLogic for you", but credit where credit is due Moyes got it rightwith both the starting line-up and the changes.
With the fight United showed in the first half it made sense to go for it in the second. Giggs did not have a bad game but it made sense to sacrifice him in order to have a real go at Bayern, besides with the energy levels required for this game it's hard to see that Giggs was going to play more than 60-70 mins anyways so it made sense to give Kagawa more time to influence the game.
At this point Moyes must for sure know that Kagawa is his "Ace in the sleeve" in the Champions League. The job for him now is to find out how to best use Kagawa from now on and in fairness he used him properly tonight. Kagawa allowed United to keep the ball much better for the few moments they did have it, something which United struggled to do in the first half.
Well done Vidic for standing up to be counted when it mattered and reminding people what United is going to miss next season. Rio had a great game as well. I've never been convinced by Buttner but he did the business tonight, someone please remind him to take Robben out of his pocket before he goes home tonight. If he is fit for the return leg I say Moyes might as well just keep him in the team instead of playing Evra. Jones was also good,obviously RB is not his position but he did what was required. Fellaini was exactly what United need him to be, he broke up play in the middle, brought down every ball kicked his way and tried to release the quicker players when he could. Carrick also deserves a mention.
As far as Valencia not getting a second yellow card, I say it's about time United gets a favourable call in the Champions League when it comes to sending offs, with Fletcher vs Arsenal, Rafael vs Bayern, and Nani vs Madrid being some of the more recent calls going against United.
The cherry on the top has to be the bookings of Schweini and Martinez which means they both miss the next game. Does that make Bayern any weaker, perhaps not really because they are so deep at the midfield positons, but not having to face Thiago, Martinez, and Schweini is a huge positive for United because there is no denying that those player are a big part of Bayern's success this season.
Credit to Moyes for doing something to give himself and his team a chance on the next game. I'm still not convinced that he is the right manager over the long term and probably will never be convinced, but if by some miracle he wins the Champions League then I would have no choice but to afford him my support because he would have earned it.
I'm under no illusion that United will win the Champions League or even go through to the next round, but after all the terrible results we've had this season, I'm willing to take any positive one and tonight's result was definitely positive. I can only imagine what kind of confidence it has given the players, after all Bayern is supposedly the best team in Europe and they were supposed to tear United apart.
So cheers fellow REDS! Let's enjoy this while we can, it might be a long time before we see the Champions League again.