Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will start against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals Wednesday despite having been ruled out for up to three weeks after damaging ankle ligaments in the first leg.
Rooney, who has scored 34 goals this season, was selected as the lone striker with Dimitar Berbatov relegated to the bench. Bayern leads 2-1 from last week's first leg.
United manager Alex Ferguson had said Tuesday that despite Rooney's right ankle healing well, the England forward wouldn't start and was unlikely to be on the substitutes bench.
"I'm not prepared to take a risk when the player is not 100 percent fit," Ferguson said at a news conference.
Without Rooney on Saturday, United lost 2-1 to Chelsea and was overtaken by its opponent at the top of the Premier League.
