TOURNAMENT – Champions League

MATCH – Bayern Munich (Home) at Old Trafford

DATE & TIME – 1st April 2014, 19:45 GMT (2nd April 2014, 01:15 IST)

Pre-Match Press Conference Transcript of David Moyes and Ryan Giggs

Q. David, is this one of the reasons why you took the job, a Champions League quarter-final against the holders and one of the best club teams in the world?

Moyes: Most definitely. Its a really good competition, its been very good for us so far, in my short time here. I come into it as a very inexperienced manager in the Champions League, but we’ve done well and now, we’ve got the ultimate test in Bayern Munich.

Q. Is the pressure off you and the players in a sense with Bayern Munich being the holders obviously expected to win, is the pressure off you and more on them?

Moyes: I think the pressure is equally balanced because we want to win the game as much as Bayern Munich do. We go into the game knowing that on our day, we are as a good a side as any. We’ve got to show it more often than we have done, but I’ve got great belief in the players – I’ve said that from day one and it hasn’t changed. I get the feeling that they all want to play, the players want to play. Even I can tell in the training by their attitude – they’re saying this is a big game and they all want to play in the big games, that’s what, over the years, players here have wanted to do.

Q. How is Rafael da Silva, is he ruled out? How do you see the battle with Robben and Ribery given that Alexander Buttner will be playing left-back probably instead of Evra?

Moyes: Well, we have defensive issues, undoubtedly. I won’t be giving out my team today, certainly not to Bayern and certainly not to you either. But we will , as everybody’s well aware, have to make one or two changes.

Q. What do you make of Bayern, David, as a side and what makes you think that you can combat them?

Moyes: Well, Bayern were a very good side last year – won the Champions League and had a good team. And they’ve looked to try and add to that again this season – new manager. And they’ve continued – we can congratulate them on winning the Bundesliga, and they’re probably the side where most people have looked to recently. We’ve got to go into the game knowing that we have to try and come here, get a good result in the first leg if we can to take it to Germany. And we’ll try and do that.

Q. David, do you see this as a game with the first leg coming here, that you take the game to them and you play an attacking kind of football to try and take something to Germany?

Moyes: Well, its an obvious thing to say but it’s a two-legged game and we have to make sure that the two legs are important, both games. So we have to be mindful that we want to go to Germany with every opportunity of getting through. I think in the first leg, there’s always a little bit of cautiousness, but I think in the end, we’d love to go to Germany with a victory under a belt. If we can do that, it’d set us up nicely for a result.

Q. David, how do you view the tactical battle between you and Guardiola? Because this guy’s won Champions League, the Bundesliga, La Liga. He’s regarded as the best coach in the world, so how do you view the personal battle between yourself and him?

Moyes: I’m really looking forward to coming up against him – it’s the first time I’ve done so. But, I’ve got no doubt I’ll be doing it plenty of times in the future. He’s done incredibly well in the jobs he’s been in. He’s had a year to get himself ready for the Bayern job as well, which I think has helped him. And as I said before, he’s taken over a side that were really good, already the European Champions, but his record up to now has been really good.

Q. David, Shinji has quite an incredible record against Bayern Munich. He played 4 matches and 4 wins. Especially the final match, he scored one and set up one. Is that something positive for tomorrow’s match?

Moyes: Something which we’d seriously consider because Shinji’s a really important player to us, we like him a lot – he gives us something different. And, he’s certainly in our thoughts for tomorrow night’s game.

Q. David, after Arsenal played in Munich, Arsene Wenger described Arjen Robben as a great player but also a great diver. Is that something you’d have to tell your players about?

Moyes: No, we trust our referees to make the right decisions, I think. I’ve faced it many times, I think diving is one of the hardest things for referees to get right. I would’ve recommended for diving, cameras are there pick that out – it would help the referees, that’s my personal view. I wouldn’t want to comment on any individual player, I think its a hard job for the referees but I think they could do with a little bit of help when it comes to that.

Q. Ryan Giggs, I see the game in 1999 in Barcelona. What’s the difference from the Manchester team in 1999 and now 2014?

Giggs: The players, obviously, apart from myself (smiling). So obviously the players are different of both sides but the tradition and the clubs are are still the same – two huge clubs, two great histories and two football teams that play football the correct way. And when Bayern play Man United, its always great spectacle whether it be in the Champions League final or whether it be, like tomorrow, in the quarter-finals – two massive clubs.

Q. Ryan, having played many times against Bayern over the years, how does it feel to come into this game with many neutrals making Bayern clear favourites?

Giggs: Obviously, Bayern are a fantastic team, they’re the holders. And obviously. Pep Guardiola’s took over and added a few new players and they’re a very strong team. And like you say, probably, favourites in most people’s eyes. But, we’re Manchester United and we’re playing at Old Trafford and we’ve seen so many great nights, in Europe especially. So, as players, we don’t see ourselves as underdogs – we see ourselves as Manchester United playing at home in the Champions League and we can’t wait. These are the games you want to be involved in as a player, and we’ll go out there and try to win the game. Its going to be tough, but usually is in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. But, no, we’re confident and looking forward to it.

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