'United let themselves down
against Bayern'

United let themselves down vs Bayern, says Giggs Manchester United let themselves down in a 1-0 defeat by Bayern Munich and they need their best European performance of the season to reach the Champions League semifinals, winger Ryan Giggs said on Wednesday.

United manager Alex Ferguson, annoyed by the Bayern goal at Old Trafford, pointed to a dramatic defeat of Juventus two years ago as evidence that his team can progress to the last four.

"We let ourselves down against Bayern Munich last night," Giggs said on his icons.com website. "None of the lads were happy with the way they performed in such an important game.

"In fact, Fabien Barthez, Wes Brown and Andy Cole were the only players who did themselves justice in the game.

"The manager was particularly annoyed with the goal we conceded as he thought we could have cut it out.

"It was a shame to let that one in at that stage of the game (in the 86th minute) because I think we would have all been pleased to take a 0-0 draw to Munich in two weeks' time.

"Bayern defended very well throughout the game and we found it very hard to get at them. They packed the midfield and the defence with two rows of four so we were prevented from testing Oliver Kahn as much as we would have liked.

"I think it would be fair to say that we are going to have to put in our best performance in the Champions' League so far this season if we are going to get into the semifinal."

SIMILAR SITUATION

Ferguson said: "It's a similar situation to the one we had a couple of seasons ago when we went to Juventus, almost exactly the same," Ferguson said.

When United won the trophy in 1999 they drew 1-1 in the first match of their semifinal against Juventus at Old Trafford.

But despite falling behind to two early goals, United won 3-2 in Turin to reach the final where they dramatically beat Bayern.

"I think we still have a good chance and the worry for them is losing a goal," Ferguson added.

"If we score a goal then the game changes and they know that. There is still a lot to play for."

United's hunt for a goal will be hampered by the absence of midfielder David Beckham, who will miss the game after picking up a booking on Tuesday.

Ferguson will also have to change his tactics after watching the experiment of playing Andy Cole in a roving role and letting Giggs attack through the centre fail on Tuesday.

He could opt to bring back Dwight Yorke or Teddy Sheringham to give Cole the support he was clearly lacking at Old Trafford.