He roared by scoring a goal in the UEFA Champions League, which is called the “War of Stars.”
His team, Germany’s most prestigious Bayern Munich, defended Kim Min-jae’s goal well to win 1-0 and put his ticket back to the Champions League round of 16.
However, the German media was cool-headed. Bild, who used to be criticized for “oppressive media” by criticizing Kim in an illogical manner, gave Kim Min-jae, who played the drums and janggu, not the highest score of one, but two points.
It was a bit of a disappointing rating for the defender who scored the winning goal in the 1-0 game.
Kim Min-jae started the home game against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG, France) in the fifth round of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League phase at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the 27th (Korea time) and scored the first set-piece header in the 38th minute of the first half to take the lead in Munich’s 1-0 victory.
Through the victory, Munich scored three wins and two losses (nine points) out of five to rank 11th among the 36 teams in the league phase. After the defeat, PSG only had one win, one draw and three losses (four points) to fall to 26th place.
UEFA has changed the way it will compete with clubs starting this season. Instead of dividing teams into groups and holding a group league, the teams that advance to the finals are randomly selected and divided into eight teams through home-and-away competitions. Only teams ranking first through eighth out of the 36 teams will advance to the tournament. The ninth through 24th teams will have to go through the playoffs, while the 12 teams that will be eliminated.
For Munich, it greatly saved the possibility of going straight to the round of 16 by beating PSG, which advanced to the semifinals side by side in the Champions League last season.
In addition, he has recorded a scoreless streak in the last seven official matches, including the Bundesliga. Kim Min-jae’s ability, which reached its peak, contributed greatly.
On the other hand, PSG is on the verge of failing to advance to the playoffs, let alone go straight to the round of 16.
It was Kim Min-jae’s one-man show. When the goalkeeper failed to punch a corner kick from the left side that was close to the goal line in the 38th minute of the first half, when the score was 0-0, Kim spread his arms at the goal gate and kicked it in with his head, shaking the away team’s net.
It became Kim Min-jae’s debut goal in the Champions League.
Kim Min-jae became the fifth Korean to score in the UEFA Champions League.
Park Ji-sung scored a total of four points in the tournament, followed by Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) with 19 points and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers) with three points. Last year, Lee Kang-in became the fourth scorer for PSG. Kim Min-jae then scored a goal.
It was Kim Min-jae’s second goal of the season, who had one goal in the Bundesliga this season. Kim once scored his first goal of the season in the sixth round of the Bundesliga against Frankfurt on June 6.
Munich, led by Bengsang Kompany, a former Belgian world-class centerback who directs Munich, was a 4-2-3-1 model.
In addition to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Alfonso Davis, Kim Min-jae, Dayo Upamecano and Konrat Reimer built the defense. Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich came out as central midfielders. Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Leroy You were in the second line. England’s proud world-class striker Harry Kane was dispatched.
PSG faced off in a 4-3-3 format. Matvei Saponov, the goalkeeper, wore gloves, while Nunu Mendes, Willian Pacho, Marquiños, and Ashraf Hakimi formed the defense. The midfielders consisted of João Neves, Vitinya, and Fabian Lewis. Bradley Barcola, Usman Dembele and Warren Zaire-Emery were among the front-liners.
Lee Kang-in, who was the fake striker (No. 9) of the zero-top system in the previous Champions League game, waited on the bench.
With only Kim Min-jae starting, he was flawless in defense, his main job.
PSG, which was pressed by Munich’s momentum from the beginning, lost its fighting spirit early after being hit by Kim Min-jae.
In addition to scoring goals, Kim also cut off a pass to the opponent’s side defender Mendes, who ran to the front line in the fifth minute of the second half, to show off his active defense to the best European team. He contributed to Munich’s scoreless victory by selecting an outstanding position to block the path of the opponent’s attack.
Munich took the lead in the 11th minute of the second half when Dembele was sent off due to accumulated warnings. Dembele, who had lost the opportunity to play for a while due to the coach and protest, ruined the atmosphere by receiving two yellow cards against Munich, which needed points.
Dembele, who received a yellow card for protesting excessively in the first half, was kicked off the ground after receiving a second warning for a deep tackle on Munich side defender Davis, who was carrying out a counterattack.
PSG put Lee Kang-in instead of Zaire-Emery in the 20th minute of the second half.
Lee Kang-in entered, and Kim Min-jae remained on the 조이카지노 ground, and the Korean Derby was held for about 30 minutes until the second half of the extra time.
However, it was difficult to expect anything from Lee Kang-in at a time when PSG was undernumbered. Lee Kang-in made Munich nervous with his sharp left foot kick from time to time, but failed to change the flow of defense.
Both Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in played on the ground until the whistle blew at the end of the game.
Munich had to be satisfied with its 1-0 victory when Jamal Musiala’s decisive shot was caught by goalkeeper Safonov’s fingertips in the 29th minute of the second half. Kim Min-jae’s header goal became the only goal in the match.
It is the first time in 13 years that Korean players will face each other in the Champions League after Park Ji-sung of Manchester United of England and Park Joo-ho of FC Basel of Switzerland in the 2011-2012 season.
However, immediately after the game, Bild gave Kim Min-jae two points, not one.
German media rate players between one and six points, but the lower the score, the higher the score. Two points are excellent, but it is regrettable considering that Kim Min-jae led the team’s 1-0 victory both in offense and defense. “A defensive monster turned into a header monster. It was only two meters away, but it hit the bull’s eye,” Kim said. “He also had a hard back.”
UEFA selected Kim Min-jae as PSG MVP after evaluating the game properly.