This from today's Mirror:
Sir Alex Ferguson is facing an injury crisis which could leave him without an entire back four for the opening weekend of the new season.
Manchester United could begin the defence of their Premier League title without key personnel.
Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva are major doubts for United's opening fixture against newly-promoted
Vidic, who missed United's Far East tour after suffering an ankle injury, pulled a calf muscle as he warmed up for Wednesday's Audi Cup semifinal against Boca Juniors. Brown, just back from a long layoff, came off with a thigh strain in the same game, while Neville flew home from the
And with Rafael playing no part in pre-season because of a dislocated shoulder, Fergie's defensive options will be stretched to the limit.
"Once again it's our defenders who are falling down," said Fergie. "Wes got a little pull in his thigh and there's no point carrying on in preseason games. It was sensible to take him off when we did, and Vidic pulled his calf in the warm-up."
United and Bayern failed to stage a repeat of their 1999 Champions League final epic after playing out a goalless draw which lurched to an inevitable shoot-out.
Fergie said: "It was a competitive game, which was what we needed. We had some really good chances and we actually took quite good penalties - there weren't really any bad ones.
"We're going to give the players a few days off. They deserve that. It's always tiring going to the Far East but at least the stop-off in
A capacity crowd of 69,000 at the Allianz Arena saw United's Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney miss glorious chances in normal time.
Jonny Evans fluffed United's eighth penalty before former