Manchester United face anxious wait over Van Persie fitness

Sep 11, 2012 10:00:00 PM

The injury-prone striker was forced off after taking two knees to the thigh in a challenge against Hungary, although boss Louis Van Gaal has played down the extent of the injury

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is sweating on the fitness of Robin van Persie after his striker was substituted at half-time during Netherlands' World Cup qualifier against Hungary with a suspected thigh injury.

Van Persie took two knees to the thigh in a challenge with Hungary defender Roland Juhasz and was replaced by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar during the interval. The extent of the Dutchman's injury has not yet been confirmed.

But speaking after the match - which the Netherlands won 4-1 thanks to goals from Bruno Martens, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and a double from Jeremain Lens - boss Louis van Gaal insisted the former Arsenal man's early withdrawal is nothing to worry about.

	POINTS DROPPED IN MANCHESTER
20/1	Bet365 are offering odds of 20/1 that Wigan will claim a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford against Man Utd

Van Gaal told SBS6: "We took off Robin for precautionary measures. It doesn't seem to be too serious, but you never know. We didn't want to take any risks."

The 29-year-old has netted four goals in three games for United following his transfer from Arsenal last month. Van Persie also scored in Netherlands' 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Turkey on Friday.

United will be hoping he returns to full fitness in time for the visit of Wigan on Saturday, while fellow summer arrival Shinji Kagawa is also a concern after missing Japan's World Cup qualifier against Iraq with a back injury.

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Champions League final - LIVE!

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.

7:29 PM BST

Right, just to explain, we have three representatives at Wembley tonight:

- Tim Rohn, Goal Germany correspondent

- Stefan Doring, Dortmund fan

- Tobias Kind, Bayern fan

Let's check in with Tim to get a taste of the pre-game atmosphere inside the ground ...

"30 minutes to go until kick-off and the atmosphere is already amazing. Both groups of fans sing songs to rile the other ones. But everythings is peaceful. Jurgen Klopp stood some minutes alone at the kick-off-point and let all the Wembley madness have an effect on him."

7:25 PM BST

The phrase 'mixed emotions' seems made for Matthias Sammer, the legendary sweeper who inspired Dortmund to Champions League glory in 1997 but who is now employed by Bayern Munich. However, he's doing a pretty decent job of putting his old allegiances to one side ahead of tonight's final.

"It is hard to talk about feelings ahead of a match," the Bayern sporting director told Sky Sport Germany. "We want to show what made us strong all these weeks.

"We may not forget that Dortmund lost twice and drew twice in our last four matches. But they will present themselves differently tonight, that is for sure."

7:19 PM BST

And one final question for Carlo ...

@OmarAb96: What is the most important battle on the pitch tonight?

CG: This is going to sound like a cliche, and probably not the answer you are looking for but whichever team is more clinical will win the game. That is the real battle, more so than any individual contest because these are two sides who value the collective. I expect Bayern to have more possession, but Dortmund are still incredibly dangerous on the break. Bayern may create more chances, but Dortmund will have their opportunities too. It really depends who is more efficient.

And like I said earlier, the first goal will be crucial. If Bayern score first, it will be very difficult for Dortmund to come back.

7:13 PM BST

Carlo's now had his attention turned to the intiguing arrival of a certain Spaniard at the Allianz Arena this summer ...

@A_Mostefa17: Do you think Bayern will be even better with Guardiola next year or will it all go wrong for them?

CG: Everything suggests that Guardiola's Bayern will be a great team. The setups at Bayern and Barcelona are comparable, both on and off the pitch. Only Barcelona have monopolised more possession than Bayern over the past two seasons, while the Germans have enough top quality young players for Guardiola to build a great team around.

Everything is there for Guardiola to do well, the problem is that if Bayern win tonight and clinch the treble - as expected - how on earth do you better that? The simple answer is you can't. So Guardiola will almost be in a no-win situation from the outset, and that is never an easy starting point.

7:09 PM BST

And the rest of that response (trust me - it gets even better!) to the question on whether Germany deserves four Champions League places:

CG: Germany took a place off Italy purely because Uefa's coefficient system - which rewards the same number of points to Europa League competitors as it does for those in the Champions League - was so ludicrously flawed.

There is no doubt that the Bundesliga is on the up and Serie A has since struggled in Europe - and this season Germany has proven its worth in the Champions League - but the league should hever have been granted a fourth place until they earned it in the Champions League ... not in a Mickey Mouse Cup that no one outside Germany and the minor nations takes seriously.

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