While “Korean Iron Pillar” Kim Min-jae played for 75 minutes as a starter, his team Bayern Munich, the most prestigious in Germany, secured a scoreless victory and remained second in the Bundesliga, the regular German professional football league this season. Coach Tuchel recalled Kim Min-jae, who was responsible for the team’s last-ditch defense throughout the season, right after the match.
Munich defeated Wolfsburg 2-0 in the 33rd round of the 2023-2024 German professional football Bundesliga at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the 13th (Korea time). Coach Thomas Tuchel excluded a large number of key players in this game, which is the final home game this season, and Kim Min-jae, who was recently pushed to the bench, also became a candidate, and formed a center-back combination with Upamecano.
Kim Min-jae, who started wearing the home uniform for the first time in an official match with his teammates for the next season, was substituted due to an unexpected injury on the day. He complained of ankle pain during a race with opponent striker Jonas Bean, who was about to rush to the penalty box after receiving a forward pass in the 29th minute of the second half. Tuchel added Matheis D’Richt, his main player, to the ground, and called Kim Min-jae to the bench.
It was a moment when I was worried that I might have a big injury reef at a time when I had to finish this season.
However, it turned out that it was not a serious injury. Shortly after the match against Wolfsburg, the Munich club explained in detail Kim’s condition on its official website. “Kim Min-jae collapsed due to injury in the 29th minute of the second half,” the club said. “We had to respond immediately after the match because Kim Min-jae sprained his ankle,” Tuchel told reporters after the match.
Later, German leading newspaper Bild reported that Kim Min-jae’s injury was not enough to be a problem.
Before being substituted, Kim contributed to the win without allowing even a single goal. It is the first time in six matches that Munich won an official match without allowing a single goal since the second leg of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal against Arsenal on April 18. In terms of league matches, it was the first time in just one month since the match against Cologne (2-0 win) on April 13.
Munich played without defense anxiety for the first time in a long time as Kim Min-jae, who recently showed a run while advancing to the front to block the opponent’s attack, stably took the center stage from the back.
Coach Tuchel, who will leave Munich after this season, played his last match at home on the day. Tuchel added a large number of players who were waiting in the bench, citing that a considerable number of players who played as the starting players in the match against Real Madrid were injured. Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Eric Dier, Leroy Zane and Diricht were excluded, while Matisse Tell, Lovrozbonarek, Briain Zaragoza, Kim Min-jae and Upamecano were included.
Among them, Kim Min-jae, who participated a lot, had anxiety in his teamwork, such as working with Zbonarek and Zaragoza, who started the official match for the first time since coming to Munich, but he contributed to the victory through stable defense from behind.
However, the German media’s assessment was not sufficient given the German team’s scoreless victory. The Kicker, one of the country’s top sports magazines, gave Kim Min-jae a three-point rating. Bild, a leading magazine, also scored Kim a three-point rating. German media give players a score between 1-6, but the lower the score, the better they played. A three-point rating means they were okay, but considering their scoreless performance on the day, it is regrettable.
Four minutes into the match, Munich took the lead when offensive midfielder Zvonarek, born in 2005, scored his debut goal. Zvonarek, who caught the ball from the right side of the penalty box, aimed at the bottom corner of the net on the other side with a sharp right-footed shot and shook the net.
Nine minutes later, Leon Goretzka also tasted the goal
While Munich won the ball from the front under intense pressure, Goretzka, who rushed from the penalty arc, accurately stabbed the top corner of the net with a powerful right-footed shot to make it 2-0. Munich, which recently lost 1-3 to Stuttgart in the 32nd round of the league after two UCL semifinal showdowns with Real Madrid, has won for the first time this month.
Munich (72 points), which had 23 wins, 3 draws, and 7 losses, maintained its second place by two points from Stuttgart (22 wins, 4 draws, 7 losses, 70 points).
After the match, Tuchel told Kim about his ankle condition through an interview and gave a detailed evaluation on him. “I was very happy with Kim. Unfortunately, I made an unfortunate mistake in the first match against Real. Overall, however, he is an incredibly reliable person,” Tuchel said, reflecting on the past year in which he brought in Kim, utilized him, and spent time on the bench.
“He played every game before the Asian Cup, and I didn’t think he needed a break. My opinion on him is very positive,” he said. “Despite the slump that has been occurring in all football careers, his personality and way of behaving were very good. I was happy to have Kim here. I think I am lucky to have the best player with the best mentality,” he said in complimenting Kim’s attitude.
Coach Tuchel made headlines in the German media when Kim Min-jae lost two runs due to two big mistakes in the first round of the UEFA Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid on the 1st, calling him a “greedy defender,” but wished him luck on the day he left.
BY: 스포츠토토