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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| Source=Lee Jae-sung Blog |
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There is a good reason for Mainz's victory over Bayern Munich in the 'German 1st round' with Lee Jae-sung at the forefront.
Mainz won a surprise 2-1 home game against Munich in the 14th round of the German Bundesliga in the 2024-2025 season at Meva Arena in Mainz, Germany, thanks to Lee Jae-sung's multi-goal. Mainz led early with Lee Jae-sung's consecutive goals in the 41st and 15th minutes of the first half. In the 42nd minute of the second half, Leroy Sane scored a comeback goal, but won the game by one goal without additional points. This is the first time that leading Munich has lost the league.
Lee Jae-sung stood tall as the winning contributor with his performance of 'The Most Valuable Player of the Match' against Munich's defense, which is guarded by his national team colleague Kim Min-jae. Kim Min-jae played full-time in the 90th minute, and Mainz midfielder Hong Hyun-seok replaced him in the 39th minute of the second half and played on the ground for about six minutes. Three Koreans enjoyed the Korean Derby.
It was a victory made by Mainz's recent surprising trend, Munich's performance, coach Bohenriksen Mainz and Lee Jae-sung's 'chemistry', and Lee Jae-sung's unique sincerity.
Mainz tied the win on the day, winning four games and 12 points in the last five league games. Mainz, who was worried about relegation at the beginning of the season, scored 22 points and jumped to sixth place, which is the qualification for the European club competition. It is two points behind Leipzig (24 points), which is the last place to advance to the European Champions League.
Mainz was particularly strong against Munich at his home stadium, Meva Arena, ahead of the match. After winning 2-1 at home against Munich in April 2021, they won 3-1 at home in April 2022 and 3-1 at home in April 2023. He has swept four wins in five recent league home games against Munich, including a one-on-three loss at home in October last year.
It is evaluated that the tactical strategy of Henriksen, who took the helm of Mainz in February, has been perfectly established. Coach Henriksen said he could not win the match against Munich because he only defended himself.
Lee Jae-sung has established himself as a shadow striker or a side striker who went up one space from the existing attacking midfielder under the tactics of Coach Henriksen. Coach Henriksen judged that Lee Jae-sung could show a high level of goal-making ability and his unique sincere movements more actively under the striker.
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'Change position' was effective. Lee Jae-sung boasts a 'all-time pace' with five goals and two assists in 13 games since the opening of this season. After Lee Jae-sung left Holstein Kill to join Mainz in 2021, the most offensive points in a single season were seven goals and four assists (34 games) in the 2022-2023 season. In the 2023-2024 season, he scored six goals and three assists in 29 games. With five consecutive offensive points, including the match against Munich, he seems to be able to score double-digit points and score the most points in a single season for the first time in his career.
Closer distance to the goal means that there is a high possibility of being exposed to a decisive chance. This is why Lee Jae-sung has a lot of header points this season. Let's look at the scene of the extra goal in the 15th minute of the second half of the match. Lee Jae-sung waited in front of the gate like a striker, caught right Armindo Jibe's cross and cut the net with a left-footed shot following a smooth turn motion. Lee Jae-sung's average ball action per game increased from 31.7 to 40.3 last season and this season. It can be interpreted that they are more often involved in attacks.
If the second score was due to a change in Lee Jae-sung's role, the first goal scored in the 41st minute of the first half showed Lee Jae-sung's unique sincerity. Mainz took the ball from the defense and quickly launched a counterattack. Lee Jae-sung, who arrived at the opponent's camp at once in line with the speed of his teammates' counterattacks, helped the team maintain ball ownership with clever postplay in the process of connecting the pass. Then he ran to the door with concentration to the end. Jibe's left cross deflected off the opponent's body and headed in front of the goal, and Lee Jae-sung calmly scored to avoid the goalkeeper. In other words, an opportunity came to those who faithfully moved.
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| Lee Jae-sung 15th heat map against Munich. Sofa Score |
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As of the 15th, Lee Jae-sung has 341 sprints (14th joint), 1089 intensive runs (8th) and 138.6 kilometers (34th) for sprints, which means sprints of 25 kilometers/h or more, and intense sprints of 20-25 kilometers/h. He is at the top of the list in the running category. Intensive runs increased by an average of 13 per game compared to last season, and sprints increased by about three. Lee Jae-sung, who averaged about 8.1 kilometers per game last season, is running a distance of nearly 10 kilometers (9.9 kilometers) this season. Even at the age of 32, his physical strength shows no signs of diminishing, but he is becoming more experienced in front of the door.
It is the first time in his career that Lee Jae-sung scored a goal against Munich. Lee Jae-sung is also the first Korean player to smash Munich 'Germany's strongest' with his personal power. Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who is the same age as Lee Jae-sung, failed to score a goal against Munich in the Bundesliga.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
