“Another ‘Kaiser’ compliment came out!”→”2nd consecutive UCL best rating.” Kim Min-jae became the ‘Man of Europe’ and scored a header goal plus defense as the ‘best defender’

Now he is the man of Europe. Monster defender Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) got another job.

Bayern Munich, led by head coach Vincent Kompany, beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on the 27th (Korean time) in the 2024-2025 European Champions League (UCL) phase. Bayern Munich rose to 11th place (nine points) in the UCL league phase. On the other hand, PSG fell to 26th place (four points), which makes it impossible to advance to the tournament, putting it on alert.

Kim started the game on the day. He scored the winning goal of the day in the 38th minute of the first half and his debut goal in the UCL. Kim scored a surprise header at a corner kick in the 38th minute of the first half when the match was 0-0. When the opposing goalkeeper failed to punch a corner kick that was close to the goal line from the left, Kim Min-jae swung the net with his head at the door.

Kim Min-jae entered the European leagues by wearing Fenerbahce (Turkiye) uniform in 2021. He had never scored an offensive point in a competition against a club. He had one goal in this season alone. He scored his first goal of this season in the sixth round of the German Bundesliga against Frankfurt on June 6. Kim displayed his second goal of this season.

Kim Min-jae also showed the best 구글SEO defense in the upbeat mood. At five minutes in the second half, he cut off a pass to Nunu Mendes, the opponent team’s flanker, who ran to the front line, with his hind legs to block the path of opponent team’s offense. His outstanding positioning contributed to Bayern Munich’ win without allowing any points.

After the game, Kim was highly praised. He was named the man of the match. Teammates Manuel Neuer and Harry Kane congratulated Kim on his performance on social networking services (SNS).

Bavarian Football, which mainly delivers news from Bayern Munich, once again named Kim Min-jae as the “Kaiser” (emperor). The media outlet said, “Perfect timing of tackle, brilliant positioning, clean and solid pass. He woke up like a phoenix after suffering a disaster in the match against FC Barcelona. He is showing the world why Bayern Munich paid a huge amount of money to recruit him. Make no mistake.”

Give Me Sports also gave Kim the highest score of eight, saying, “A header goal gave Bayern Munich the lead. He seemed to be the best defender. He defended his team’s lead by blocking consecutive blocks.”

Kim Min-jae has been doing well in the UCL in succession recently. He also set a UCL milestone in Game 4 against Benfica on the 7th. Kim Min-jae also started the day. He properly centered the four-back line, which was formed high beyond the half-line against Benfica, and properly prevented counterattacks. In addition, he performed a perfect game of putting the pass forward accurately.

He caught the ball in the midfield at the 38th minute of the first half and precisely put the ball to Harry Kane, who is at the forefront of the team. In the seventh minute of the second half, he cut off Benfica’s cross through a header as he counterattacked. In the 20th minute of the second half, he also managed to secure the ball through tackles in a one-on-one situation with Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis. Focusing on counterattacks, Benfica failed to target the defense line where Kim Min-jae was holding out. It failed to score any effective shots.

On the day, Kim completed 113 pass attempts by playing full-time. According to the soccer statistics magazine SofaScore, Kim is the first player who has recorded 100 percent success rate among 103 or more pass attempts in a single UCL game since the 2003-2004 season.

Praise poured in. Teammate Joshua Kimmich said, “Defending from high is not easy. Both of our center backs make very smart decisions in matches against opponents. It helps the team a lot. Kim Min-jae was always considered a monster. He also improved a lot in situations where he had the ball.”

German media Bild, who had been criticizing Kim so far, also acknowledged that he was a “monster defender.” Kim was the only player on the day to receive one point. Germany rates players between 1 and 6, and the lower the score, the better the performance. Bild praised Kim for being strong at a critical moment and full of stability.

Meanwhile, the game attracted attention as a Korean Derby. This is because both teams had soccer stars representing South Korea. Bayern Munich had Kim Min-jae, the “Hong Myung-bo’s defense core,” and PSG had Lee Kang-in, the “attack captain.” It is the first time in 13 years that a Korean player has played on the UCL stage since Park Ji-sung of Manchester United (England) and Park Joo-ho of FC Basel (Switzerland) in the 2011-2012 season.

It was Kim Min-jae who laughed. Kim, who started the game on the day, not only scored but also secured victory. Lee Kang-in, on the other hand, started the game from the bench.

PSG suffered from a red card. At the 11th minute of the second half, PSG striker Usman Dembele was sent off due to accumulated number of warnings. Dembele received a yellow card once while protesting excessively in the first half. He got a second yellow card as he tackled Alfonso Davis, his opponent who was about to counterattack. On the verge of defeat, PSG deployed Lee Kang-in instead of Warren Zaire Emery in the 20th minute of the second half as its first substitute card. Lee made Munich nervous by kicking his left foot occasionally, but failed to change the defense.