Kim Min-jae's struggle with "Tuchel's Nongak"...Why is it so sad against KIM Arsenal → Munich Arsenal won 1-0, but bittersweet
Bayern Munich won 1-0 thanks to Jojua Kimmich's winning goal in the 18th minute of the second half of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal match against Arsenal at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the 18th (Korea time).
Munich, a prestigious German Bundesliga that advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating SS Lazio in the round of 16 in the Champions League, met English Premier League powerhouse Arsenal. Arsenal reached the quarterfinals by winning the match against FC Porto in a penalty shootout.
The first match of the quarterfinals was held at the Emirates Stadium in London, England on the 10th. At that time, Bukayo Saka's first goal in the 12th minute of the first half took the lead, but Munich turned the game around when Serge Gnabry's equalizer and Harry Kane's reversal penalty shot in the 18th and 32nd minutes of the first half. Arsenal lost the lead, but finished with a 2-2 draw as Leandro Trossar, who was replaced in the 31st minute of the second half, scored an equalizer.
The winner of the second round will reach the semi-finals of the Champions League as the first round of the quarterfinals failed to decide the winner. With attention focused on who would laugh, home team Munich beat Arsenal to head to the semifinals of the Champions League.
As the defeat soon led to their elimination, both teams played cautiously. During the first 45 minutes, Munich and Arsenal had the same ball occupancy ratio of 50/50, and Arsenal had a higher shot count of 4/6, but they did not exchange many attacks.
After the second half began, Munich began to take the lead in the game. Leon Goretzka's header shot, which was crossed by Jojua Kimich in the first minute of the second half, hit the post, and Rafael Geheiro's shot, who caught the second ball afterwards, also hit the defense and the post in succession before going out of the line.
While the team was gradually adding vitality to its offense, Munich scored the first goal in the 18th minute of the second half, and took the lead. The hero of the first goal was Kimich.
In the 18th minute of the second half, Arsenal's goalkeeper David Raya succeeded in hitting Leroy Sane's cross, and the second ball headed in front of Geheiro. Geheiro then crossed in front of the goal, and Kimich, who was rushing in, scored a valuable first goal as he shook the Arsenal net with a header shot to his head.
With Kimmich's first goal, Munich is one step closer to reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League. With a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Munich was on the verge of victory and advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League as they made the combined score 3-2.
Arsenal, which was on the verge of elimination after Munich scored, strengthened their offense by sending in Leandro Trosar and Gabriel Jesus in the 22nd minute of the second half. In response, Munich also replaced Kim Min-jae in the 31st minute of the second half, solidifying its defense wall.
Arsenal, who rarely had a chance to shoot, staged a full-blown offensive in the 41st minute of the second half by excluding defender Takehiro Tomiyasu and putting striker Eddie Nketiah. Munich responded by calling in side winger Sané and putting in center back Dayo Upamecano in the 44th minute of the second half.
In the end, Arsenal failed to break through the Munich defensive wall and gave Munich victory. Munich won 1-0 in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at home, making it to the semi-finals for the first time in four years since the 2019-20 season. Kim Min-jae, who came as a substitute on the day, will also make his first Champions League semi-final appearance.
At that time, Munich not only reached the semifinals but also won the championship, so the news of its advance to the semifinals raised Munich fans' expectations. Attention is expected to be focused on whether Munich, which failed to win both the Bundesliga and the domestic cup tournament this season, will be able to reach the final and aim for the trophy.
The team Munich will face Real Madrid or Manchester City in the semifinals. The two teams, which had a 3-3 draw in the first leg, played until extra time as the 1-1 draw continued in the second leg. Later, Real won the penalty shootout and faced Munich in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Kim Min-jae, who was eliminated from the quarterfinals of the Champions League during the SSC Napoli last season, reached the semifinals for the first time since entering Europe, but he did not laugh much because he did not contribute much to his team's advance to the semifinals unlike Napoli.
Kim Min-jae, who contributed to advancing to the round of 16 by starting all five games except one game in the group stage of this season's Champions League due to a hip injury, was benched more often than not as he was pushed out of the competition for the starting lineup in the second half of the season.
In the first leg of the round of 16 against Lazio, Kim Min-jae started, but the team lost 0-1. Since then, Munich has defeated Lazio 3-0 with Kim Min-jae absent in the second leg, and Kim Min-jae has since become a bench member.
Kim has started seven of the last eight matches on the bench, including the second leg of the quarterfinals against Arsenal. The only starting match was the away match of the 28th round of the 2023-2024 Bundesliga against FC Heidenheim on the 7th, as a rotation to save the physical strength of Diricht and Dier for the away match of the first leg of the Champions League against Arsenal three days later. In addition, Kim was criticized for losing three goals in the second half of the match.
After the match against Heidenheim, Kim Min-jae went back to the bench and missed the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Arsenal and the 29th round of the Bundesliga against Cologne. Kim Min-jae's position was further narrowed as Eric Dier and Matheis D'Richt, who played as center-back combinations, won without losing a point against Cologne.
In the end, Dyer and Diricht played as starting center backs in the second leg of the quarterfinals against Arsenal, as in the first leg. Kim Min-jae started playing on the bench again, and perhaps it was a waste of putting Kim Min-jae on the bench, Tuchel, who leads Munich, drew attention by playing Kim Min-jae as a left-back.
In the 31st minute of the second half, Kim Min-jae was put on the ground as he was replaced by full-back Nusair Mazrawi. It can be confirmed that Kim Min-jae played at the left side line and replaced him as a left-back instead of a center-back.
Prior to the game, Tuchel mentioned the possibility of Kim Min-jae playing as a left-back, and Kim Min-jae actually played as a full-back.
BY: 스포츠토토핫