Finally a decision on Rooney

Manchester United will not risk Wayne Rooney against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The England goal ace picked up ankle ligament damage in United's 2-1 defeat in the first leg of the quarter-final, but reports had suggested an early return was possible. Rooney, who has hit 34 goals this season, sat out United's open training session on Tuesday with Fergie later confirming there was "no chance" of him starting on Wednesday. "We have made some good progress with the lad and the medical team have done fantastic, but I am not prepared to take a risk on a player who is not 100% fit,” commented Ferguson. "We are looking more at the Manchester City game, maybe Blackburn as a substitute. That is possible. But it is an ankle injury, the same as any other. He is no different to anyone else."

Giggs wants spirit of Roma thrashing

Manchester United great Ryan Giggs has called on his teammates to evoke the spirit that saw them destroy Roma three years ago in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich. In 2006-07 United returned from the away leg 2-1 down and staring at a last-eight Champions League exit. But Giggs and co produced a master-class in the return at Old Trafford to wipe the Italians 7-1 in the return. The Red Devils lost 2-1 to Bayern in a quarterfinal first leg last week. "Trying to achieve that same atmosphere is what we want to do. It just shows what can come if you play well,” commented Giggs on Tuesday. "The crowd get behind you, you're keeping the ball and you're constantly attacking. We've seen so many great nights and hopefully this can be another one.”

Wenger hails Messi master-class

Lionel Messi is "unstoppable", claimed Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after the little maestro’s superb four-goal show sent the Gunners crashing out of the Champions League on Tuesday. The Argentine, who is the current World Player of the Year, produced one of the competitions best all-time solo performances as Barcelona won 4-1 to progress to the semi-finals 6-3 on aggregate. "We lost against a team better than us with the best player in world. He made the impossible possible. He has something exceptional. He is unstoppable,” said Wenger. He added: "He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make.” Arsenal had earlier opened the scoring through Nicklas Bendtner, but Messi fired a first half hat-trick to effectively end the tie, before adding another in the second stanza.

Germans amazingly fear Berbatov

Bayern Munich coach Louis Van Gaal fears Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov. The silky Bulgarian is expected to lead United’s attack against the Bundesliga giants in Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg at Old Trafford. Bayern hold a 2-1 advantage from last week’s first leg in Germany. The £30m Berbatov has however not scored a single goal in Europe this season as he has played second fiddle to the now injured Wayne Rooney. But Van Gaal insisted: "I've always liked Berbatov. I wanted to buy him when I was the coach of Ajax and he was at Bayer Leverkusen.” The Dutchman added: "We have already beaten Manchester United with Wayne Rooney anyway, so it does not matter to us whether he plays or not.”

Reds to sign South Korean and other red-hot gossip

Liverpool have emerged as favourites to sign Bolton winger Lee Chung-Yong. The South Korean international has impressed Reds coach Rafa Benitez who is ready to flash £8m under Bolton’s noses to secure the services of the 21-year-old former FC Seoul player. Chung-Yong is expected to help provide extra creativity and more firepower for the Liverpool strikers. Elsewhere, Tottenham are interested in splashing £2m on Notts County goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, the son of Manchester United great Peter; Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has blamed the club's failure to challenge for the EPL title squarely at the feet of the Anfield outfit's owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks; Arsenal want to team Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh with Wigan's Hugo Rodallega after the Moroccan international striker signed a four-year deal at the Emirates; and Lazio left-back Aleksandar Kolorov is "honoured" by the reported interest of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Rooney’s Bayern chances at 40%

In a remarkable turnaround, Wayne Rooney has been given a 40% chance of being fit to face Bayern Munich on Wednesday. The Manchester United goal ace injured ankle ligaments in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against the Bundesliga giants last week. The match was won 2-1 by Bayern and Rooney was initially feared to be out for a minimum of three weeks. But on Monday it was announced that he was making remarkable progress with his rehabilitation. According to The Guardian newspaper, Rooney will be included in the squad if he comes through a training session today. But “Ferguson will not risk the England forward if there is a chance of aggravating the injury further and last night United's medical staff attempted to play down the chances of a comeback by only rating his chances of playing as "40%,” claimed the daily broadsheet.

Theo promises to fly against Barca

Flying Arsenal winger Theo Walcott has vowed to turn on the after-burners against Barcelona on Tuesday and run the Spanish giants ragged. His searing pace seriously troubled Barca’s defenders in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal played at the Emirates last week. Walcott even weighed in with a goal in the 2-2 draw."As a winger you have to be on the front foot,” commented Walcott on Monday. "Hopefully I can get at them and produce a problem. We have got to believe that we can get a result." After the first leg, Barca coach Pep Guardiola admitted Walcott gave them problems. "It's nice people are saying good things, I've just got to show it on the pitch,” added Walcott, who some claim can run the 100metres in a lightning fast 10.3 seconds!