Wayne Rooney has denied he dived to get Bastian Schweinsteiger sent off during Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich on Tuesday, claiming he could have been badly injured after the German had "gone in with his studs".

The incident occurred in the closing seconds of the Champions League quarter-final, first leg at Old Trafford. Schweinsteiger, who had been booked earlier and scored Bayern's 67th-minute equaliser after Nemanja Vidic's goal, lunged at Rooney and although he appeared to make minimal contact with the striker, the referee, Carlos Velasco Carballo, deemed it a second yellow card offence, so issued the 29-year-old with the red.

An unhappy Schweinsteiger twice spoke to Rooney about the incident before walking off. The Liverpudlian did not want to be drawn on what was voiced. "I don't really want to say what he said but I think it's a foul," Rooney stated. "It could have gone either way. He could have hurt me, he's gone in with his studs and the referee has booked him, so it's not my decision. It's not nice to see anyone sent off and I didn't try to get him sent off. The referee has made a decision. I've tried to stop myself getting hurt and the referee has had a decision to make."

Schweinsteiger is suspended for the return leg at the Allianz Arena on 9 April, along with Javi Martínez, although with Mario Götze, who was rested, and Dante to return Pep Guardiola has options available.

Rooney said that although Bayern would miss the suspended pair, "they have got a great squad and players who will come in".

Arjen Robben criticised United's defensive approach, saying the game was "almost like in handball" and Rooney said it would rank as his greatest achievement in the competition should United prevail against the German champions, who have the advantage of an away goal.

"They are favourites for the tournament and it will be a tough ask but we needed to give ourselves a chance and we have done that. We have to go and score and [we are] disappointed to have conceded but we defended really well as a team and probably had the better chances and [are] probably disappointed we didn't win."

Rooney believes that Bayern can be exposed by getting in behind them. "They play a high line and with a little more composure we can exploit that," he added.

Danny Welbeck was given a golden chance to score against Bayern in the first half through such a ploy but the forward tried to dink the finish over Manuel Neuer rather than place it either side of the goalkeeper. Rooney said: "If we were a bit more composed in front of goal maybe we could have won the game.

"Danny had a good chance. We have watched videos of their goalkeeper and he's a bit like [Peter] Schmeichel, that he likes to come out of his goal, so it's a bit disappointing that he tried to dink him and didn't score but he will learn from that. I am sure if he gets a chance over there he won't do that.

"We had the better chances and are disappointed we didn't take at least one more but they are the European champions and we have seen them go to Arsenal and win 2-0 there [so] it's a decent result. We have to focus and make sure we put everything into it. It's a massive game for our season, so we have to make sure we are ready."

Rooney has good memories of playing at Bayern after he scored there four years ago at the same stage of the competition. "It's a fantastic stadium to play in, to go there with the chance to knock them out, with them being the holders of the competition, it's a massive incentive for us and we are looking forward to it," he said.