It would be fair to surmise that very few people expect Manchester United to overcome the daunting challenge of Bayern Munich in the Champions League over the next 10 days.

While the Red Devils have stuttered on a regular basis under the management of David Moyes, Bayern appear to be going from strength to strength with Pep Guardiola at the helm.

However, four years ago today, the two sides met at the Allianz Arena for a first-leg quarter-final tie that many had tipped United to prosper from.

After all, in the previous round, Sir Alex Ferguson's team had routed AC Milan 7-2, while their German counterparts required the away goals rule to overcome Fiorentina.

So, when Wayne Rooney scored his 34th goal of the campaign with just 66 seconds played, it seemed that United were destined for the semi-finals.

Bayern defender Martin Demichelis slipped inside the area, which left the England international enough space to volley in Nani's floated cross from close range.

Rather than build upon that advantage, though, United struggled to take control of proceedings as the home side applied a large amount of pressure.

Franck Ribery in particular was a threat to Gary Neville, but having worked his way beyond the experienced full-back on two separate occasions before the break, the French winger saw his strikes blocked by visiting goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

The Dutch shot-stopper was then required to save his side on numerous occasions after the restart as he frustrated the likes of Ribery, Ivica Olic, Mark van Bommel and Thomas Muller. But, with 13 minutes left to play, Van der Sar was powerless to prevent Bayern from equalising.

Neville handled the ball on the edge of his own area and although Ribery's effort from the resultant free kick was a tame one, it deflected wickedly off Rooney in the wall, which completely wrong footed the United keeper as it crept inside his near post.

United's response was positive and they almost immediately regained the lead when Nemanja Vidic rose highest to meet Ryan Giggs's corner, but the centre-back's header cannoned to safety off the crossbar.

That would prove to be a crucial moment when in stoppage time, United full-back Patrice Evra was robbed of possession inside his own box by Olic.

Having side-stepped Rio Ferdinand, the Croatian then got the better of Van der Sar to ensure that the Bundesliga outfit would take a 2-1 advantage into the second leg in Manchester.

To make matters worse for United, their talisman Rooney suffered an ankle injury in the build-up to Bayern's winning goal which would limit him to just four more appearances that season.

Speaking after the final whistle, defeated manager Ferguson said: "We just kept giving it away. Bayern were the better team and it's a disappointing performance possession-wise. They put in a big effort, but we're better than that."

BAYERN: Butt; Lahm, Van Buyten, Demichelis, Badstuber; Ribery, Altintop (Klose), Van Bommel, Pranjic (Tymoschuk), Olic, Muller (Gomez)

MAN UNITED: Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Park (Berbatov), Carrick (Valencia), Fletcher, Scholes, Nani (Giggs); Rooney