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Bayern were founded in 1900 by men who left the Munich gymnastics club to play football. The club progressed through local competitions to win the Bavarian League twice before the First World War. After that war they won two South German titles before their first German Championship in 1932 under coach Richard Kohn but their success came to an abrupt halt with the rise of Nazism. Kohn and the club president, both Jewish, managed to escape the country but the club was derided as a “Jew’s club” and its members purged.

After the Second War Bayern struggled on the verge of bankruptcy and relegation from the Southern Conference until local industrialist Roland Endler rescued them. In 1963 five Conference teams were admitted to the new Bundesliga but third placed Bayern missed out because TSV München 1860 had won the title and the DFB (German Football Association) did not want two clubs from the same city. Bayern got their promotion in 1965 with a team which included Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller and Sepp Maier. They won and retained the German cup and won the European Cup Winners’ Cup before taking their first national league title in thirty seven years when in 1969 they became the first team to win the German double. There was no going back; three consecutive titles, three consecutive European Cups and the Intercontinental Cup in the seventies, six titles in the eighties, four in the nineties, six in the noughties, last season the first German quadruple.

We first played them in August 1959, invited back to the city where our team had been destroyed in the air crash eighteen months previously. We beat them and up to and including the Champions League final of 1999 in seven meetings they beat us just the once, a pre-season friendly in 1966 when German pride was at stake after the World Cup. From hour to hour we ripe and ripe and then from hour to hour we rot and rot and thereby hangs a tale; since our triumphal night in the Camp Nou we have met nine times and it is we who have won only the once, the pyrrhic victory of April 2010. Glory beckoned when Nani put us three ahead before half time but Ivica Olić’s goal got them back in the tie and in a second half display of methodical ruthlessness, their players took turns in clobbering Wayne Rooney’s injured knee, played on the immaturity of Rafael da Silva until Franck Ribéry succeeded in persuading the referee to send him off and scored the away goal which took them through; a brilliant volley from Arjen Robben.

The unbeatable foe came to Old Trafford for this quarter final; European and World Champions and fresh from retaining the Bundesliga title only last weekend. They followed up their Champions league victory last year by recruiting former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola so that they would carry on winning things but everybody would start to like them. Our task seemed hopeless; seventh best in England with stand-in fullbacks, missing our top goal scorer, veteran central defenders playing together for the third time in five months. Yet in the best atmosphere of this season we so nearly had a dream start. As they came at us Rooney sent Antonio Valencia flying up the wing, waltzing around Jérôme Boateng and passing to Danny Welbeck who played keepie uppie to beat the challenges of Boateng and Javi Martínez and half volley decisively into the net. It was harsh for referee Carlos Carballo to rule out the goal because Welbeck’s foot passed adjacent to Martínez’ chin.

Valencia countered dangerously up the right touchline first with Welbeck and then less effectively with Marouane Fellaini, until Bayern set about controlling the game in Guardiola fashion, confident they could supress Rooney-inspired counter attacks and moving the ball calmly and accurately when they had it, which was most of the time. Ribéry and Robben were constantly threatening and Bayern’s command was complete yet for all that the Press afterwards and the television commentators at home were wrapped in sycophantic adoration of the new Barcelona, the spectacle was dreary, especially as it did not trouble our goalkeeper. Our defenders played with terrific determination, a quality seldom in evidence this season, none more so than Alex Büttner, who repelled Robben and Rafinha and was better by far than we thought possible. Bayern resorted to the long ball and shooting from distance, which Guardiola dislikes because they concede possession. We restricted them to one early chance when Thomas Müller kicked air as Robben’s cut back sailed past him.

As the half hour approached we began to find outlets again. Rooney released Welbeck with an intelligent throw, Michael Carrick found passes for Welbeck and then for Valencia but this opened up the game and Robben curled a beauty around Carrick to test David de Gea for the first time; a fine save. Jones and Rio stopped Ribéry, Rio Ferdinand made an interception on Rafinha which was out of his memory bank, Büttner stopped Bastian Schweinsteiger with another superb tackle, Nemanja Vidic had to be at his strongest to keep Müller at bay. Then came our best chance; Rooney lifted a ball over the top and Welbeck was round Boateng and through on goal. Why oh why did he try to chip Neuer when every pundit with the benefit of hindsight told him it needed a wellie? The half ended with a great ball from Giggs and good footwork from Welbeck but Valencia’s drive was deflected over. Whoever would have believed that half time would arrive with the scores level?

In the second half we took the game to Bayern. Shinji Kagawa, replacing Giggs, nearly got through with his speed, Büttner with his energy, Valencia despite being surrounded and Carrick with his long pass. Rio blocked Robben and the Red and White Army chant took over the stadium. Rooney took the corner which Kagawa had won and Vidić lost the defence who were busy tugging other shirts. He still had to make a towering leap and lean back to reach the flight of the ball for a memorably dramatic header; his first goal in Europe for five years. The place erupted; 58 minutes 1-0.

We tried to capitalize but Martínez dragged Welbeck down and Schweinsteiger clattered Carrick. The World Champions regained the possession on which they thrive. Boateng’s long shot was safely handled by de Gea but Robben released Rafinha on the right, his cross was headed down by substitute Mario Mandžukić and Fellaini was the wrong side of Schweinsteiger as the German scored with a cracking drive under the bar. The impossible dream had lasted just short of ten minutes; 67 minutes 1-1.

It was Bayern’s turn to seek to improve their position and Büttner put in another great tackle to stop Robben, who then tried a curler. When we attacked up the right Valencia rode a crunching tackle and tried where the brave dare not go to win the ball back off Boateng, who made it look a bad one until one had the chance to see on a replay that there was hardly any contact, and no studs showing. Led by Schweinsteiger, Bayern players shamelessly harangued the referee to get Valencia dismissed but Carballo was having none of it.

Büttner had to be withdrawn from the field on his greatest day; Ashley Young came on, Valencia moved back. We put together a sweeping move, Rooney to Kagawa to Young but we could not convert this corner. At the other end Robben got a deflected cross and shaved the post and when Kagawa lost the ball Ribéry cut Robben’s pass across the open goal. Mandžukić elbowed Vidić and then, the cheek of it, complained that the United man was making a meal! For a few seconds it was Croatia versus Serbia with no Bosnians handy on whom to turn. We brought on Javier Hernández with six minutes to go but when Young threaded a great ball through, Martínez cynically pulled him down. There was still time for Schweinsteiger to trip Rooney as he tried to break clear. It was the umpteenth time Bayern had illegally prevented a breakaway but Rooney dived. Schweinsteiger, happy to foul when it suited him and to plead with the referee to send off Valencia was himself being dismissed and accusing Rooney, who last time around had suffered the unrightable wrong when they kicked him black and blue. What is the German for Schadenfreude?

The odds against us have increased; Bayern after all, have an away goal. Yet history suggests that a first leg home draw is not necessarily the precursor to failure. We have prevailed in exactly half of the twelve occasions in fifty years that this has happened and our success rate is even better when the home leg has ended one-all. In 1965 we won two-one at Everton, in 1991 we won two-nil in Montpellier and in 1999 we won three-two in Turin against Juventus. In 1983 we went through on away goals with a two-all draw in Prague against Dukla. Only twice did we fail; held to a scoreless draw by Widsew Łódź in 1980 and heroically losing two-one to Juventus in the Cup Winners Cup semi-final of 1984. Bayern may be holding all the best cards but their hand has still to be played out.

Paul Andrew James