Can Minjae Kim Make a Impact in the UCL Semi-Final Against Real Madrid?

Will Minjae Kim be able to play in the first leg of the UCL semi-final against Real? On the 28th, he posted a photo of the game against Frankfurt on his SNS, saying, “I feel good.” Photo = Minjae Kim SNS Can Minjae Kim play in the first leg of the UCL semi-final against Real? On the 28th, he posted a photo of the game against Frankfurt on his SNS, saying, “I feel good.” Photo = Kim Min-jae SNS

Will the ‘healthy’ Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) be pushed out of the starting line-up this time? A local media outlet in Germany and the European Football Association (UEFA) predicted that Kim Min-jae would be excluded from the UEFA Champions League (UCL) match between Munich and Real Madrid (Spain) in the coming week.

Munich will play the first leg of the 2023-24 UCL semi-final against Real at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany at 4 am (Korea time) on May 1. This is the meeting of two famous families that formed a rivalry in the 2000s.

It is 6 years since the 2017-18 season that the two teams met in UCL. I remember that at that time they clashed in the semi-final of the competition, and Real went on to the final by beating Munich with a total score of 4-3 in the first and second leg. It was also the season in which Real won their third UCL title in a row.

At that time, the lineups of Munich and Real changed a lot. Among the starting players in the second leg of the semi-final, which is the final match, only Lucas Vázquez, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos are still on the team. Among the Munich players, Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich, and Sven Ulrich still remain with the team. All in all, I was faced with new faces.

Minjae Kim is also aiming to be a UCL starter once again. He has been on the bench for three games since the first leg of the round of 16 against Lazio (Italy) last February. After giving up his starting spot to Eric Dier, he only played 14 minutes.

The expected starting line-up for the first leg of the UCL semi-final between Munich and Real, predicted by the German media Kicker on the 28th. Photo = Kicker

However, a variable arose before the game against Real. Matthijs de Ligt suffered a knee injury during the game against Frankfurt on the 27th and was out of action. I still couldn’t join the training the day before. The exact timing of the colonization is unknown. Before that, Dayot Upamecano suffered an ankle injury during pre-match training. In fact, only Dyer and Kim Min-jae remain professional central defenders.

The possibility of choosing Kim Min-jae is higher than ever, but the media had different thoughts. German media outlet Kicker reported the expected starting line-up for the first leg of the semi-final between Munich and Real and predicted that De Ligt-Dyer would form the central defense this time as well. The same goes for UEFA.

Meanwhile, before the game, Kim Min-jae left a message on social media (SNS) on the 28th, saying, “I feel good,” as if he was confident in his improved condition. On the same day, goalkeeper Neuer also posted a photo hugging him and saying, “See you on Wednesday.” This is the background to growing expectations about the possibility of the two players being selected together.

Minjae Kim and Neuer await next week’s UCL 2023-24 semi-final first leg against Real. The photo shows Neuer and Minjae Kim embracing. Photo = SNS Neuer

Reporter Kim Woo-jung ujkim50@edaily.co.kr

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