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"Monster" Kim Min-jae showed a monster performance again. Bayern Munich won 1-0 in the fourth European Champions League phase of the 2024-2025 season against Benfica at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the 7th (Korea time). Bayern succeeded in escaping consecutive losses with the victory on this day. Bayern fell out of 24th place after losing back-to-back games in Aston Villa and Barcelona. If it had lost, the crisis of elimination from the preliminary round would have accelerated, but Bayern won and rose to 17th place (6 points). Kim Min-jae was definitely in the center. Kim Min-jae, who was paired with Dayo Upamecano, performed a tremendous performance reminiscent of his Napoli days.
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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South Korea's leading center back Kim Min-jae (28, Bayern Munich) was re-certified as the world's best center back ahead of the 'Genius Midfielder' against his teammate Lee Kang-in (23, Paris Saint-Germain).
On the 25th (local time), the International Sports Research Center (CIES) released the top 5 of the public (high) play rankings of center backs around the world. In the 2024-2025 season, center backs who played in more than 630 minutes of league games belonging to 67 leagues scored index points based on the number of aerial ball competitions and success rates. It was based on data from the scouting analysis platform 'WiceCout'.
Kim Min-jae scored 89.1 out of 100, tied for third place with Willie Oban (Lifchich) and Willian Rocha (CSKA Moscow). Only Julian Chabo (93.3 points) and Usman Diomande (92.0 points) scored higher than Kim Min-jae.
Kim Min-jae played 11 games in the German Bundesliga, winning 40 aerial ball competitions and tied for sixth overall.
In the European Champions League stage, he has played four games, recording 13 successful aerial ball competitions, the second of the defenders, and a success rate of 72.2%, respectively. In the match against Barcelona, where the team was defeated 1-4 last month, it boasted a 100% success rate in four aerial ball competitions.
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"Monster" Kim Min-jae showed a monster performance again. Bayern Munich won 1-0 in the fourth European Champions League phase of the 2024-2025 season against Benfica at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on the 7th (Korea time). Bayern succeeded in escaping consecutive losses with the victory on this day. Bayern fell out of 24th place after losing back-to-back games in Aston Villa and Barcelona. If it had lost, the crisis of elimination from the preliminary round would have accelerated, but Bayern won and rose to 17th place (6 points). Kim Min-jae was definitely in the center. Kim Min-jae, who was paired with Dayo Upamecano, performed a tremendous performance reminiscent of his Napoli days.
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| ◇Kim Min-jae, who controls the ball against Benfica. Bayern Munich scored a 100% pass success rate in the 1-0 win. EPA Yonhap News |
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| European centre-back performance rankings for the 2024-2025 season. Kim Min-jae sat at the top. Source = CIES |
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Kim Min-jae proudly ranked first in the center back rankings, which were scored by 'CIES' on the 12th. He scored 91.1 points, beating Ruben Díaz (89.7 points in Manchester City), Ibrahim Conate (89.5 points), Virgil van Dijk (89.4 points in Liverpool), Eder Militão (89.0 points in Real Madrid), and Dayot Upamecano (88.9 points in Munich).
In the Champions League match against Benfica on the 7th, he set a Champions League record of 100% success with 113 passes, drawing attention.
In this season's statistics company records, it has maintained performance enough to be included in Europe's top and world best. On the 23rd, he tied a 3-0 victory in the 11th round of the league against Augsburg to support his win without losing a point in six consecutive games.
He has the third-highest rating of 7.19 points (Huscoord) among Bundesliga center backs who have played more than 630 minutes.
Kim Min-jae, who returned to his Napoli days 'Home' with the full trust of Munich coach Bang Sang, is certain to start in Game 5 of the Champions League phase against Paris Saint-Germain at 5 a.m. on the 27th at Allianz Arena.
On the other hand, some media outlets, including the German soccer magazine 'Kicker', predict that Lee Kang-in will likely be put in as a substitute, not a starter. Lee Kang-in is going back and forth between starting and replacing this season. With the return of main striker Gonzalo Hamus to injury, he is expected to be out of the zero-top.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
