Go on and prove them wrong, lads

Still no Wayne Rooney and 1-2 down from the first leg, but van Gaal insists United are still the favourites to progress to the next round at the expense of his Bayern team.

Was it just mind tricks when he said that? Or does he truly believe it to be so? Who knows, but in my mind, he's right.

That all-important away goal could be the one thing which separates the two sides at the end of today's (tomorrow's, for us) match. Then it will be MU as the only EPL team left in the Champions League.

Fergie has ruled Rooney out of the first 11, although the gaffer admitted his talismanic striker may just convince him of a place on the bench. So that leaves Berbatov to lead the attack again.

I wonder, however, what sort of formation Ferguson will use. The 4-5-1 (or 4-4-1-1) which he opted for against Chelsea, or a more conventional 4-4-2? If he goes 4-4-2, he'll bring in Macheda, but I doubt if he'll do that. My gut tells me he will go 4-4-1-1.

The only thing is, will he put Nani or Giggs in the hole behind Berba? I have to say he needs the big guns today, so put Nani and Valencia on the wings and Giggs behind Berba. The middle of the park should see Scholes and Fletcher reprise their roles, although Carrick may just be in for one of the two.

There's no real point in discussing the back line, although news from Old Trafford is that O'Shea is available again.

As for Bayern, Robben could be back but the main threat as I see it is Ribery. He's got some killer skills, the Frenchman. In the first leg, he was a constant threat. But I did notice that his crosses were just not working too well.

Taking everything into account, I think it will be United progressing to the semi finals. But then again, you guys may think I'm biased!

The old animal bones say: MU 1 Bayern 0