Coach's quip and celebrations - Manchester United did not look like a crisis club ahead of Bayern Munich tie

The ominous omen for Manchester United is the only occasion they have beaten Bayern Munich aside from the utopia of Barcelona '99 they also departed the Champions League.

One swing of Arjen Robben's boot levelled the aggregate scoreline and gave Bayern a second away goal. Louis van Gaal's unfancied side progressed to the 2010 semi-finals as Sir Alex Ferguson bemoaned the "typical Germans" who demanded Rafael da Silva's game-changing expulsion.

United could beat Bayern at Old Trafford again and still trudge off knowing they will not hear the Champions League anthem reverberate again this season.

Ending Bayern's 39-match unbeaten run in the Champions League group stage would assure United of participation in Europe beyond Christmas, only they could be subjected to the purgatory of a Europa League play-off in February. That is not an anthem to entice supporters to M16 for a midweek nocturnal tie.

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United players were in a buoyant mood during the open section of their training session on Tuesday. It is the closest us dedicated correspondents have been to a ball-related United session since Erik ten Hag's first pre-season destination in Bangkok.

The squad conducted a pressing exercise with the squad split into three squads. The enthusiastic Steve McClaren kept a tally of the passes, Eric Ramsay kept score and the lithe Darren Fletcher joined in. The non-bibs prevailed and held a celebratory huddle.

A smiling Erik ten Hag watched on as he delegated Mitchell van der Gaag to oversee the drill. As Van der Gaag was putting out the cones, he called out to the communications director Andrew Ward. "Andrew, is