#8 Wayne Rooney at his selfless best (Manchester United vs Bayern Munich, April 7, 2010)
Trending
Manchester United made it to the final of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League final as well but this time around, they ended up on the losing side against a Barcelona side which was simply too strong for a lacklustre United side on the night. United did, however, secure the Premier League title for the third year running, with Rooney scoring 20 goals in all competitions.
Both Ronaldo and Tevez left the club ahead of the 2009/10 season with the Portuguese heading off to fulfil his dream at Real Madrid while the latter moved to bitter rivals Manchester City following a fall-out with Sir Alex Ferguson. Despite Dimitar Berbatov’s presence, the onus was on Rooney to step up and he did just that scoring 34 goals from 42 matches in all competitions.
The last of that goal tally came against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash at the Allianz Arena on March 30, 2010, but it was Rooney’s display in the second leg that truly epitomised the greatness of Rooney as a team player.
Rooney twisted his ankle in the dying minutes of the match as the hosts secured a 2-1 lead heading into the tie at Old Trafford with reports suggesting that the Englishman had suffered from ligament damage which would keep him on the sidelines for two to three weeks.
However, the return leg just a week later threw up a big surprise when Rooney was named in the starting eleven for United. With a heavy bandage on his leg, it was clear that Rooney was in no position fit enough to play a match of such magnitude but the man defied the odds with an inspiring display as United raced to a 3-0 lead, including setting up Darren Gibson’s opener.
The injury would become too much to handle for Rooney as he was subbed off in the second half and though United won the match 3-2 on the night, they lost the tie 4-4 on the away goals rule.
The fact that Rooney played no further part that season proves how he always put the club ahead of himself but it was a memorable season for him on the personal front as he netted the winner against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final and was named the PFA Player’s Player of the Year as well the FWA Player of the Year.
The season also saw Rooney becoming only the 20th player to score 100 goals for Manchester United when he netted twice in a 5-0 away win at Wigan Athletic.
