There were different claims in Germany and England.
“Jamie Carragher has blamed center back duo Kim Min-Jae and Dayo Upamecano for Bayern Munich’s goal,” the UK’s Metro reported on Wednesday (Feb. 3), citing CBS Sports.
Kim Min-Jae started and played 86 minutes of the 4 a.m. kickoff between Bayern Munich and Aston Villa at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League group stage of the 2024-2025 season. Despite a solid defensive performance, Bayern lost 0-1 due to a costly error from fellow goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Bayern Munich lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The defense included Alfonso Davies, Kim Min-Jae, Dayo Upamecano, and Joshua Kimmich. Neuer was in goal.
Bayern took the initiative in the early stages of the match, but Aston Villa responded defensively and looked for counterattack opportunities. In the 22nd minute, it looked like Villa would score from a free kick, but the goal was disallowed for offside after VAR review. Bayern were unable to break Villa’s tight defense, and Gnabry’s best chance of the game went wide as the first half ended 0-0.
Bayern brought on Musalla at the start of the second half to shake things up in attack, but remained frustrated. In the 34th minute, Villa took the lead when John Duran latched onto a long pass from Pau Torres and fired a delicate shot past an unmarked Neuer.
Bayern tried to fight back, but were thwarted by Villa’s solid defense.
\In stoppage time, Gnabry had the decisive chance when he was set up by Musiala, but was denied by Villa goalkeeper Martinez. In the end, Bayern lost 0-1 away to Villa.
According to soccer stats site Futbol, Kim touched the ball 84 times in 86 minutes of action, with a passing success rate of 96% (73/76), eight passes into the attacking area, zero lost balls, three clearances, one header, one interception, 파워볼실시간 four defensive actions, two recoveries, two dribbling interceptions, and a 100% aerial ball win rate (6/6). The numbers show that he played a relatively stable defense.
Bayern legend Lothar Matthaeus, who was one of the most vocal critics of Kim, said: “Kim and Upamecano have been criticized for the last seven or eight months. With the arrival of Vincent Kompany, things have changed. Bayern are the strongest team now. It’s better than it was under Pep Guardiola,” he said, claiming that Kim Min-jae has helped strengthen the squad.
However, the English voices were different.
Carragher, a former center back for Liverpool and the England national team, pointed out Kim’s mistakes. “We were talking about Bayern’s center backs before the game,” he said in his CBS match analysis. In my opinion, the goal against Aston Villa was their problem,” he said, noting that the mistake came from two center backs, not Manuel Neuer.
“When we went back to defense, Kim Min-jae was supposed to be on the left and Upamecano on the right, but they switched positions. Upamecano had to travel a longer distance, and when the ball arrived at Duran’s feet, he was already in the wrong position and unable to follow up,” he said.
“If they hadn’t switched positions from the start and returned to the defense, there would have been no problem,” he added.
His co-star, Manchester City defender Micah Richards, echoed the same sentiment: “Kim was getting back to his defensive position, but he didn’t even know where the ball was. It’s a mistake at youth soccer level.”
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