Monster center back Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) has been selected as the official UEFA Champions League ‘Team of Migration’.
UEFA selected and announced Lee Ju’s team on its official website on the 29th (Korea time) after the fifth leg of the Champions League’s league phase, the highest stage of the European competition.
With the 4-1-2-1-2 formation as the standard, Kim Min-jae was listed as a center back along with Barcelona’s 17-year-old defender Pau Kubarsi. Quibin Kelleher (Liverpool) was selected as the goalkeeper, Rami Bensevaini (Borussia Dortmund) and Yurien Timber (Arnall) as the left and right wingbacks.
The midfield consisted of Rade Krunic (Zrvena Zvezda), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), Alexis McAllister (Liverpool), and Florian Birz (Bayel Leverkusen), while Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) and Matteo Lettegi (Atalanta) were selected as the front-line two-top.
Kim Min-jae scored the winning goal against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on the 27th and was named the man of the match. The UEFA evaluation team also praised his performance.
UEFA explained why it selected Kim Min-jae, saying, “He scored the only goal at home against PSG. It was his first goal in the Champions League. He was praised by UEFA’s match supervisor for taking back control of the ball and leading his team to victory.”
Munich won 1-0 with Kim Min-jae’s winning goal in the fifth round of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League phase against PSG at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on the 27th.
Kim Min-jae, who started with Dayo Upamecano, blocked most of the PSG attacks and played a role in the attack. In the 6th minute of the first half, the attack began after Kim Min-jae joined the pressure, and Jamal Musiala scored an effective shot in the box.
In the 31st minute of the first half, PSG striker Usman Dembele attempted to break through the dribble in front of Kim Min-jae and attempted a left-footed shot with Kim Min-jae continuing to follow, but Manuel Neuer’s super save came out.
Munich eventually scored the first goal in the 38th minute of the first half and the main character was Kim Min-jae.
Munich got a corner from the left. Kim Mi-hi’s corner was curled into the near post and goalkeeper Matvei Saponov managed to hit it. However, it was not cleared properly and fell in front of Kim Min-jae, who was right in front of the goal.
Kim did not miss it and pushed it straight with his head. Kim roared in front of his home fans right after scoring and shared the joy of scoring with his teammate Dayo Upamecano.
Kim Min-jae performed well in defense immediately after scoring and finished the first half without losing a point.
Munich, which started unchanged in the second half, blocked PSG’s attack with Kim Min-jae and Upamecano still blocking the center. PSG tried to cross until the end, but Kim Min-jae did not allow a point when he header the final cross and finished 1-0.
Munich won seven games without losing a point, and Kim Min-jae showed an overwhelming performance with an MVP-class performance.
This has turned out to be true with the data. According to the soccer statistics company Potmob, Kim showed remarkable numbers with a pass success rate of 93 percent (55/59), an expected score of 0.39; two accurate long passes; one tackle successful; one block; seven clearings; four header clearings; two interceptions; 13 defensive actions; three recoveries; 67 percent (2/3), and 50 percent (1/2) successful aerial ball competitions.
Kim Min-jae was also listed in the top 11 selected by statistical media prior to the UEFA announcement.
Huskoredcom made the best 11 by selecting the 11 players with the highest ratings by position among the players who played in the fifth round of the Champions League phase.
Along with Kim Min-jae, Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid), Valdemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), and Alex Grimaldo (Bayel Leverkusen) made up the back four, and Dmytro Riznik (Shakhtar Donetsk) was named as the goalkeeper. 스포츠토토
Silas (Zrvena Zvezda), Charles DeKettelrer (Atalanta), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven) and Jamie Gittens (Borussia Dortmund) were selected in the midfield, while Julián Álvarez (Atletico Madrid) and Florian Birz (Bayel Leverkusen) took the front two-top spot.
Meanwhile, Kim Min-jae showed off his amazing performance as a starter in all 18 official matches played by Munich this season. He is showing the true face of the Korean defender to the world by playing all the compulsory games accompanied by tremendous physical strength.
In particular, his participation in the PSG match is noteworthy in that he recently returned from both A matches in the Middle East and played full-time against Augsburg in the Bundesliga and 90 minutes against PSG again in two days.
