With Kim Min-jae’s strong performance, Bayern Munich succeeded in turning the atmosphere around by catching Stuttgart in the league.
Bayern Munich won 3-0 in the 15th round of the Bundesliga against Stuttgart in the 2023-2024 season at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the 18th (Korea time).
Bayern settled the team atmosphere that had collapsed with a 1-0 European Champions League victory over Manchester United in the previous league match against Eintracht Frankfurt, further raising the tone in the match against Stuttgart. The victory kept Bayern four points clear of league player Leverkusen, with Stuttgart falling to fourth place behind RB Leipzig.
Home team Bayern played 4-2-3-1. Harry Kane was located at the front line, and Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala and Thomas Muller played in the second line. Aleksandar Pavlovic and Rafael Guerreiro worked together in the third line. Alfonso Davis, Kim Min-jae, Dayot Upamecano and Konrad Reimer defended the four-back, and Manuel Neuer defended the goal.
Stuttgart, the visiting team, faced off 4-4-2. Seru Girasi and Dennis Udav were on the front two-top, while Chris Furich, Angelo Stieler, Atakan Karacho and Enzo Miyo were on the midfield. The defense was made up of Maximilian Mittelstedt-Danaxel Zagadou-Waldemar Anton-Yosha Pagnoman. The goalkeeper’s glove was worn by Alexander Nouvel.
▶ Kim Min-jae, who washed away the game against Frankfurt, is also expected to show his performance against Stuttgart
Despite his consistent performance since joining Bayern this season, Kim Min-jae is having a difficult season due to a large amount of game digestibility and occasional performance problems. Kim Min-jae is one of the most prolific players in Bayern, and considering the A-match, including the Korean national team, the burden is even greater.
Initially, the Bayern plan did not include Kim Min-jae’s abuse. Bayern, which has a total of three World Claps center backs, Kim Min-jae, Matthijs Dericht, Dayot Upamecano, did not worry about the center back at the beginning of the season. However, when Dericht returned from an injury early in the season, Upamecano left the team, and when Dericht recently returned from an injury, only Kim Min-jae was consistently involved in the center back position as Dericht once again left the team with a knee injury. It was difficult to form a center back without Kim Min-jae.
Kim Min-jae is responsible for all the burden, and in recent games, he played full-time in 15 consecutive games as a starter, which has led to controversy over excessive use. Although his teammates are in an unavoidable situation due to injuries, difficult times continue, with Kim Min-jae also showing signs of exhaustion during league games due to his continued full-time digestion. In order to reinforce the defense, Bayern is looking to recruit Raphael Varane, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ronald Arauho in the winter transfer market, but Kim Min-jae seemed to need immediate rest.
Due to his lack of physical strength, he was not able to show 100 percent of his performance. In the last match against Heidenheim, he showed a decrease in physical strength in the second half and made a series of mistakes, providing an excuse for the team’s loss. In the previous match against Cologne, he strongly collided with opposing striker Darby Zelke on the ground, complaining of extreme pain, and there was a concern of injury. Fortunately, Kim Min-jae returned to the stadium after the medical staff’s inspection and played full time.
However, he strengthened his commitment to participate in the competition on the controversy over excessive use. “It sounds like I’m full to say that I’m tired. I think I’m playing without getting hurt, and I think I need to take good care of myself without getting hurt,” he said. “I’m more grateful than excessive use.”
Ahead of the last match against Copenhagen, there was also an injury issue. As Bayern had already confirmed its advance to the round of 16 strongest teams in the European Champions League (UCL), there was no big problem. The German media Kicker said, “The question could arise as to who should take a break. Kim Min-jae, who frequently participated in the match, needs rest, and besides Kim Min-jae, Upamecano is the only professional center back. In the end, there is a high possibility that Goretzka or Mazraoui will play as center back instead of Kim Min-jae,” Tuchel said. “There is a high possibility that another player will fill the post instead of Kim Min-jae.” Thomas Tuchel also appointed Leon Goretzka as center back in the match against Copenhagen.
German media outlet Avent Zeitung called Kim Min-jae the “hidden hero of Munich” and voiced concern that he should not lose him. “Kim Min-jae had to wait for his way home from work at the match against Cologne. He fell in the air and hurt his hip, and rolled on the floor with his face distorted in pain. However, it was impossible to replace him. There was no one to replace him. He played his part in Bayern’s last spurt of the year by holding out until the final whistle,” Avent Zeitung said. “He played his part because he had no alternative resources for Kim, even though he played too much games.
German media Bild said, “Kim Min-jae has already missed Monday’s training. It is unclear whether he will play in the upcoming match against Copenhagen,” adding that Kim may not be able to play in matches following the training.
He also took extra rest afterwards. The match between Bayern and Union Berlin was postponed due to heavy snowfall that suddenly hit Germany. Bayern had to spend about two weeks without a match due to the cancellation of the match against Union Berlin, and Kim Min-jae also bought time to recover his body for two weeks. After a two-week break, Kim Min-jae returned to the starting lineup as usual in the match against Frankfurt.
Kim Min-jae failed to prevent his team’s crushing defeat in the match against Frankfurt. Kim Min-jae was cited as one of the targets of criticism when he made a mistake that led to warnings and a loss in the match against Frankfurt.
Kim Min-jae did not stand out even though he played after a two-week break. He kept records including 113 successful passes, one recovery of ball ownership, two interceptions, and three successful aerial ball competitions, but failed to rescue his team in a losing situation.
Its rating was also regrettable. Footmob, a soccer statistics medium, gave Kim a 5.4 rating, the lowest after Mazraoui, Neuer, and Goretzka. Sofa Scores also gave Kim 6.2 points. It was the lowest rank in the team, along with Neuer, Mazraoui, and Davis.
Criticism from the German media was also inevitable. German media outlet Avent Zeitung criticized Kim’s performance in the match against Frankfurt, saying, “Kim returned after a two-week break, but he was not in a normal condition. He was warned, showed caution and negligence in the match against Knauff, and lost the match even though he was a few meters away,” adding, “He lost the match.” German media Bild and Kicker also gave Kim a six-point rating, pointing out his regret over Kim’s performance. German media outlet Teche also strongly criticized Kim’s performance on the day, saying, “He even ran the risk of accumulating warnings. I floundered with my teammates.”
Bayern legend Thomas Helmer also criticized Kim Min-jae. “The Bayern defense team had individual characteristics, but it didn’t work systematically. It’s not just the two center backs Kim Min-jae and Upamecano that have problems,” Helmer said. “Kim Min-jae was surprisingly fast, but he made a lot of mistakes. He was an experienced player but he was scared. Frankfurt kept him in check several times and lost the ball,” he said, pointing out that Kim Min-jae failed to overcome Frankfurt’s check properly.
After joining Bayern, Kim Min-jae was criticized by team legend Lothar Matheus by saying, “He is not yet close to what we expected. This is a factor of Bayern’s anxiety. He needs to get used to the Bundesliga. He is not against Kim Min-jae, but considering his achievements in Italy, he has yet to live up to his expectations.”
In the last match against Manchester United, he performed very well, completely washing away the harsh criticism of the match against Frankfurt. At the end of the first half, Kim Min-jae did not even allow a shooting opportunity as he completely blocked Huairun’s breakthrough attempt. Kim Min-jae had already had the upper hand by completely blocking Huairun, who belonged to Atalanta, even though he wore a Napoli uniform last season, and again in this match, he showed his natural enemy against Huairun.
Kim Min-jae also made up for his mistake. In the second minute of the second half, Kim Min-jae’s long pass was caught by a Manchester United player, and Kim Min-jae finished the crisis he could have caused himself by scratching Antony’s ball accurately with a tackle in the box.
Kim Min-jae also tried to shoot from a set piece. In the 37th minute of the second half, Kim Min-jae shot the ball that flowed after hitting the opponent’s defense, which unfortunately caught the defense and led to a corner kick. In the corner kick, the ball hit Kane’s head exactly, but it passed a little next to the net.
Kim Min-jae, who started the game, made 83 successful passes, one successful tackle, two clearings, and five recoveries of ball ownership, alleviating some of the disappointments in the match against Frankfurt. In particular, he contributed to the scoreless victory by perfectly blocking Manchester United’s strikers. Football statistics media Footmob gave Kim a rating of 7,2. Although it was not a high rating within the team, it was recognized for its average performance, ranking higher than Mazraoui, Goretzka, Musiala, and Sané. The sofa score also gave Kim 7.1 points, which was the fifth-largest on the team after Kane, the finisher, Komang, Kimimihi, and Upamecano.
The Guardian of the U.K. gave Kim a seven-point rating, praising him for being there to clean up his colleague when he couldn’t handle the situation alone. The German Eurosport named Kim Min-jae the best player of the match. Eurosport said, “Kim Min-jae paired up with Upamecano and blocked his hoi loon. It was perfect.” On the other hand, the blocked hoi loon from Kim Min-jae’s eyes fought, moved, and hit him, but he never escaped Bayern center back Kim Min-jae’s marking.”
Of course, attention was drawn to whether Kim Min-jae, who rebounded from the match against Manchester United, would play an active role in the Stuttgart match.
▶Kane-Kirashi Competition among Top Scorer Candidates
Some players received as much attention as Kim Min-jae. It was Kane and Kirashi. Fans were also paying keen attention to which player could win the match by decision as the two players, who are leading the Bundesliga’s top scorer race this season 헤라카지노.
Kane left Tottenham to join Bayern ahead of this season, but he immediately melted into the team without a period of adaptation. He has played 13 Bundesliga games and is bombing the German stage with 18 goals and five assists. Bayern has less than half a season, but Kane accounts for an overwhelming portion of the attack.
Girashi is also not behind. Since he joined Stuttgart on loan for the 2022-2023 season, he has gradually begun to open his eyes to scoring. He led Stuttgart to stay, and he fully transferred this season, scoring 16 goals in 12 league games. In particular, Girashi has maintained his scoring ability by scoring two goals in the last three games, despite missing a period due to an injury.
The two players are ranked first and second in the Bundesliga scoring list with 18 goals and 16 goals, respectively, so if there is no big problem, chances are high that the top scorer will come out of the two players. Therefore, it was very important which player would shake the scoring race by shaking the opponent’s net in this showdown.
However, the issue of the upcoming showdown is Kane’s physical condition. Ahead of the upcoming match, it was reported that Kane was not in good physical condition. Tuchel mentioned Kane’s physical condition and expressed hope for him to return to training as soon as possible. He is unlikely to have any problem playing in the match, but it remains to be seen whether he will have a proper scoring match with Girash.
▶First half
Munich took the lead by pushing Stuttgart from the start of the game. Munich, which attempted a counterattack after a mistake in the opponent’s pass in the second minute of the first half, reached the door instantly with Mueller’s pass to Sané. Nouvelle popped out to stop Sané, but to no avail. Sane, who caught the ball, delivered the ball to Kane instead of finishing it himself, and Kane calmly pushed it into the empty goal to score the first goal. Kane also took the lead in the top-scorer competition with Girash with this score.
Stuttgart also tried to counterattack. It attempted to advance to the front of Bayern’s goal gate by breaking through the left side in the seventh minute of the first half. However, Kim Min-jae stopped the opponent’s attack with fast cover and immediately delivered a pass to the front to attempt the attack, but failed to lead to a threatening scene.
Bayern, which scored the first goal, tried to widen the gap further. In the 8th minute of the first half, Reimer’s shot in front of the opponent’s goal turned away from the goal and hit the ground.
From the middle of the first half, Stuttgart gained strength in earnest. In the 10th minute of the first half, Udav threatened Bayern’s goal with a shot after a spectacular dribble breakthrough in the penalty box, but Kim Min-jae flung himself and completely stopped the ball from heading into the goal. I could feel Kim Min-jae’s defense. In the 12th minute of the first half, Girasi also tried to shoot near the box, but it was not made an impact properly and he swallowed the regret. In the 15th minute of the first half, Mittelstadt connected the ball that Kim Min-jae pushed through the clearance with a shot, and Neuer easily caught it.
Kim Min-jae also showed his pass from the front and solid defense from the back. Kim Min-jae stepped forward and delivered the ball in the 17th minute of the first half to show a pass that shook between Stuttgart’s defense, and in the 21st minute of the first half, he took the ball first when only Pagnaud was breaking through, driving the ball to block him from advancing further. The goal was also canceled once. In the 24th minute of the first half, Pavlovic’s free kick opportunity was played as a kicker, and Kim Min-jae scored the goal with a header in front of the goal. However, the goal was canceled as a result of VAR review, and he once lost his chance to score his debut goal.
Bayern’s offensive was maintained even after Kim Min-jae cancelled his goal. Sane’s dribble breakthrough shot in the 29th minute of the first half failed to penetrate the nouvelle, and Musiala broke through to win a free kick again near the penalty box in the 31st minute of the first half. Sane, who played as a kicker, aimed for the goal himself, but failed to take advantage of the scoring opportunity as he was caught by the nouvelle.
Kim Min-jae continued to show solid defense to keep Bayern’s lead. In the 33rd minute of the first half, with only Pagnoman advancing for the attack, Kim Min-jae cut the ball through a tackle to block Stuttgart’s attack flow early.
Bayern’s offensive was maintained until the end of the first half. In the 37th minute of the first half, Mueller connected a pass to Sane while advancing himself and quickly headed in front of the Stuttgart goal. Sane tried to release the pressure of the opposing defender and shoot in front of the goal, but the shot did not go inside the goal. In the 45th minute of the first half, Kane tried a powerful shot, but Mussiala’s second shot was also wide of the net as it was blocked by Nouvel. In the extra time of the first half, the ball cleared by Kim Min-jae went to Müller near the box and it was a good opportunity to attack, and Müller calmly shook the Stuttgart goal. However, the goal was canceled again as it was confirmed that Müller’s position was a little ahead in the situation of Kim Min-jae’s pass, and Bayern finished the first half with only one goal lead.
▶ Second half
Even in the second half, Bayern fought hard for an early goal. In the second half, Musiala’s shot after breaking through was caught in defense. Kane scored his second goal. In the 10th minute of the second half, a cross from the right side of the penalty box hit Kim Min-jae’s head and headed to Kane. Kane scored the goal in Stuttgart by pushing the ball with his head right in front of the goal. However, the ball that hit Kim Min-jae’s head hit Stuttgart’s body and headed to Kane, so it could not be registered as a help.
Despite the gap between the two goals, Bayern took the lead in the game and put pressure on its opponents, and the third goal came out. It was Kim Min-jae. In the 18th minute of the second half, Pavlovic’s cross from the corner kick was scored by Kim Min-jae, who rushed from inside the penalty box to hit the head accurately. Kim Min-jae’s header slightly hit the opponent’s defense and headed into the goal, shaking the net without any time for the opponent’s defense and goalkeeper to use. Since then, it was recognized as an official goal, not an own goal, and Kim Min-jae was able to shake off the regret of cancelling the goal with a proper debut goal. 헤라카지노
Musiala’s dribbling was also outstanding. At 22 minutes in the second half, Musiala penetrated through three defenders and instantly entered the front of the penalty box. He pushed a pass to Kane, who rushed in with him, but it was a little short and blocked by the defense.
Kim Min-jae did not neglect defense even after scoring a goal. At the 22nd minute of the second half, he blocked the opportunity to attack itself through tackles at a time when Girash was advancing.
When Bayern made a three-goal gap, Stuttgart fought hard to recover. In the process, Jung Woo-young was put in and two Korean players were placed on the ground. In the 32nd minute of the second half, Stuttgart put in Jung Woo-young without Udav. Stuttgart failed to take advantage of its attack opportunity as Revelling’s shot was caught by Neuer in the 34th minute of the second half. However, Bayern also aimed for its fourth goal. Kane, who received Sané’s pass in the 36th minute of the second half, tried to shoot for his hat trick in front of the penalty box, but was caught in defense.
Stuttgart continued its scoreless trend until the end of the second half, failing to create a threatening opportunity for Girash on the front line. Following Jung Woo-young’s attack, Kim Min-jae’s defense also came out. In the extra time of the second half, Jung Woo-young gave the ball to Girash, who was advancing through a breakthrough on the right side of the penalty box, and Kim Min-jae quickly blocked it by settling down before Girash received the ball.
No more points were scored until extra time in the second half of the game, and the game ended with Bayern’s 3-0 victory.
▶ Kim Min-jae’s outstanding performance
Kim Min-jae, who scored his Bayern debut goal in the game, showed his contribution to both solid defense and attack by scoring 39 passes, 1 dribble, 100 percent long pass success rate, 100 percent tackle success rate, 6 clearings, 6 ball ownership recovery, and 6 interceptions.
Statistics Korea also gave excellent evaluation to Kim. Footmob, a statistical media outlet, gave Kim 8.6 points in grading, the highest in his team after Kane, who scored two goals. Davis and Pavlovic received high ratings following Kim. Sopa Score gave Kim 8.3 points in grading, which was higher than Kane.
Sports Chow, a German media outlet, praised Kim Min-jae for his performance, saying, “He was denied neither a goal nor an assist. Stuttgart couldn’t control him at all. He made his third goal by winning an aerial ball competition.” Germany’s SPOX gave Kim a 1.5 rating, saying, “Kim Min-jae perfectly organized his center-back defense. The most impressive part was when he stopped Fagnoman from the edge of the penalty box. His six clearings were by far the best in Bayern. He didn’t get lucky early on in the set piece, but he got his third good chance and made his third.”
Germany’s TZ also praised Kim Min-jae, giving him one point in the highest rating. TZ said, “The goal was blocked in the beginning, but he scored at 18 minutes in the second half to secure the team’s victory. He showed strong performance in the back several times, and made a positive impression through aggressive gestures,” praising both Kim’s scoring and defense capabilities.