Manchester United were handed their sternest test of the post Cristiano Ronaldo era by Bayern Munich and for the first time since the departure of the £80million man were found somewhat wanting.
Malaysian Select XIs are one thing but multiple European champions are quite another. And on this evidence, Sir Alex Ferguson still has plenty of questions to ponder with the start of the Barclays Premier League season just over a fortnight away.
One such question is how best to combine a strikeforce of Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen. If United's pre-season games are anything to go by then it will be very much a case of one or the other when it comes to Rooney and Owen.
The former Everton player is sure to start more often than not, with Ferguson seemingly intent on reverting to a 4-4-2 formation with Ronaldo gone.
With 12 minutes of the Audi Cup final remaining, Ferguson made the now customary move of swapping Owen and Rooney. It means the pair have still to share a minute on the pitch for United this summer despite an impressive return of 23 goals in 29 appearances as partners for England.
Even Ferguson cannot have expected Owen to have had such an impressive impact during United's summer workouts as he looks to rebuild his fitness and reputation after a dismal, injury-ravaged spell with Newcastle.
But Bayern offered a much better barometer of how Owen is likely to fare in the Premier League than anything United faced in the Far East as the Germans carried off the Audi Cup 7-6 on penalties in front of 69,000 in the Allianz Arena.
Source: Daily Mail
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