Champions League: Man Utd edged out in seven-goal thriller against Copenhagen
Manchester United were dealt a major blow to their UEFA Champions League hopes as they fell to an agonising 3-4 defeat against Copenhagen.
Hamstrung by injuries, Bayern Munich slumped to a 1-2 loss at home against Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday and Die Bayern boss Jupp Heyneckes remained hopeful that his stars would recover in time for next week’s return leg.
Veteran winger Arjen Robben as the first casualty on the night and had to be subbed off in the 8th minute itself, with Thiago Alcantara replacing the Dutchman.
“We’re hoping it’s not so bad,” the head coach stated on the topic of Robben, who suffered a collision early on.
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Defensive mainstay Jerome Boateng was the next Bayern player to pull up with an injury and Heyneckes admitted the chances of the German centre-back recovering for the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu were slim.
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“It’s a muscular problem in Jerome’s case, he’ll probably miss out,” Heynckes revealed on the topic of Boateng’s groin complaint.
The early injuries clearly had a significant impact on the tie as Bayern, despite dominating, were unable to build on Joshua Kimmich’s opener and slumped to a disappointing home loss.
And the last player to suffer an injury was Spanish enforcer Javi Martinez, who appeared to have been struck on his head in the second-half and Heynckes was forced into making his third and final substitution then.
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“Javi (Martinez) suffered a blow to his temple and was woozy.”
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“We don’t want to speculate, we’ll have to wait for the examination tomorrow (Thursday),” the 72-year-old Bayern tactician added.
The return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu takes place on May 1. Real undoubtedly are in the ascendancy after winning the away leg, but Bayern still have a fighting chance ahead of their visit to the Spanish capital.
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