After facing his biggest crisis since joining Bayern Munich, Kim Min-jae has been named in Arsenal’s traveling squad and is on a plane to England.
Bayern Munich will host Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in London, England, at 4:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday (June 10) in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals of the 2023-24 season.
On their way to the Champions League semifinals, the Bavarians meet English Premier League giants Arsenal. Both teams reached the quarterfinals after defeating SS Lazio and FC Porto in the Champions League round of 16, respectively.
Munich have been strong in the recent Champions League tournament, winning all three matches against Arsenal by a combined score of 5-1, but the Gunners have been top of the Premier League this season and have been labeled as title contenders, making it difficult to predict a winner.
Ahead of the match, Munich revealed the 23-man squad that will be traveling to London via the club’s official social media accounts. Among them was Kim Min-jae.
Along with the roster announcement, Munich also posted a video of the players boarding a bus for their flight to England. The players included in the Arsenal squad appeared in neat suits as they loaded onto the bus and traveled to the airport.
The club official filming the video gave Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel and the players a fist bump as they exited the bus and headed to the airport. Tuchel and his players smiled and put their hands on the staff’s fists, promising victory.
Kim Min-jae also greeted the staff. Kim appeared with his coat in his right hand and placed his left hand on the staff’s fist before entering the airport.
Kim Min-Jae traveled with the team to Arsenal, but it’s unclear if he’ll be in the starting lineup. Kim has been struggling for a starting spot recently and has been criticized for his lackluster performances in his few appearances.
Despite back-to-back first-half goals from star man Harry Kane and second-choice striker Serge Gnabry, Munich conceded three consecutive goals in the fifth, sixth and 34th minutes of the second half to fall to a 2-3 defeat against Heidenheim in the 28th round of the 2023-2024 German Bundesliga at the Foyt Arena in Heidenheim, Germany, on Sept. 6.
Kim Min-jae’s poor form was the culprit. It was arguably his worst game since joining Munich.
After being relegated to a third option following the arrival of Eric Dier in the winter transfer window, Kim Min-jae made his first start in five games and was involved in all three of Munich’s goals in the 2-3 defeat.
Kim Min-Jae looked to be proving his competitiveness early on, physically blocking shots and using his speed to deny the home side on the counter-attack. Munich 메이저토토사이트 took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry.
But then the nightmare began. In the fifth minute of the second half, a long kick from the opponent’s goalkeeper was contested in the defense by home striker Kleindindst, but the ball was mishandled and landed right in front of the Munich penalty area. Pieringer picked it up and played a killer pass to Cessa, who rattled the net.
A minute later, the hosts equalized when Jan-Niklas Vester crossed from the left flank for Kleindindst to finish with a right-footed volley, with Kim Min-jae completely missing the striker as he dived in behind him. He had no control over Kleindist as he moved towards the drop-off point.
In the 36th minute, it was a complete mistake. When Fieringer broke down the right flank, he had two defenders in front of him, but when he went to cover, he failed to stop Kleindist’s penetration. This gave Kleindist another open chance to score another goal.
A series of errant plays by Kim Min-jae led to a two-goal lead that quickly turned into a three-goal deficit. After the game, Kim was blamed for the loss and received the lowest rating of 6 from all media outlets, including Bild and Kicker.
Coach Tuchel was devastated. “We were extremely careless in the duel and too weak to win in the second half,” he said in the post-match press conference, and he criticized Kim for the second goal, saying, “This shouldn’t happen at this level.”
After Kim’s poor performance against Bundesliga promotion side Heidenheim, many media outlets excluded him from their predictions of Munich’s starting lineup against Arsenal.
German soccer publication Kicker reported on the team situation ahead of Bayern Munich’s upcoming match against Arsenal on Aug. 8, predicting that Kim will be relegated to the bench alongside Dayo Upamecano.
“After last weekend’s defeat to Heidenheim, there will be more changes in the central defense,” the media wrote, “Upamecano and Kim Min-jae were given the chance to recommend themselves directly to the UEFA Champions League, but the chances are gone. They made too many mistakes,” he said.
“Eric Dier and Matthias Düricht, who have been rested, will be the starters if nothing else happens,” he added.
It’s too early to give up on them, even if their chances of starting are low. The season isn’t over yet, and with Munich leading against Arsenal, it’s entirely possible that Kim Min-Jae could come on as a substitute to bolster the defense. If he continues to play and improve his confidence and performance, he could be given a chance to start again.
Up until the first half of this season, he was considered one of Munich’s key defenders, but now he’s facing his biggest crisis since joining the club. It will be interesting to see if he can overcome this and take his game to the next level.
