"Kim Min-jae's poor performance, was it due to the artificial turf?" German media points out... "Difficulty judging the ball led to conceding a goal from an early corner kick"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

South Korea national team defender Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) struggled in an away match on the "stage of stars."

On the 14th (Korean time), Bayern drew 3-3 in an away game against Viking (Norway) at RISE Arena in Stavanger, Norway, in the second match of the league phase of the 2026~2027 UEFA Champions League.

Objectively, Bayern held a significant advantage in terms of strength. Viking was the champion of last season's Norwegian Eliteserien, but this season marked the first time in the club's history that it entered the main stage of the UCL.

However, Bayern was greatly shaken from the start of the match. They conceded the opening goal in just 71 seconds.

From a Viking corner kick, Zlatko Tripic delivered the ball, which Gian Stensness headed into the net to score against Bayern.

In this process, criticism toward Kim Min-jae from local German sources continued.

German media outlet Merkur gave Kim Min-jae a German-style rating of 4 after the match. In the German rating system, 1 is the highest score, and higher numbers indicate lower evaluations.

In particular, it pointed to adaptation issues with artificial turf as the reason for Kim Min-jae's instability in the early stages of the game.

Merkur evaluated, "Kim Min-jae struggled on the artificial turf," adding, "Especially in the early part of the match, he had problems properly judging the ball."

It further pointed out, "As a result, he conceded the corner kick that led to the 0-1 goal against."

However, he was not underperforming throughout the entire match. Merkur added, "His performance improved afterwards."

Kim Min-jae was not the only one to receive harsh criticism. Jonathan Tah, who also started as a center back, received a rating of 4.

Regarding Tah, the media evaluated, "While competing with physically strong Norwegian players, he always played right on the edge of committing fouls," and added, "Nevertheless, he fought back, but his aerial duel was not strong enough in the scene where they conceded the 0-1 goal."

Ultimately, Tah played only the first half and was substituted with Dayot Upamecano at the start of the second half. Merkur gave Upamecano a rating of 3, explaining that he "brought more stability to the defense."

Kim Min-jae stayed on the ground until the end. He played the full 90 minutes, completing 55 out of 64 passes for an 86% success rate. In defense, he recorded 2 tackles, 2 clearances, 1 interception, and 5 ball recoveries.

In aerial duels, he won 2 out of 4 attempts, and in ground duels, he won 2 out of 4. His rating from football statistics media FotMob was 6.4.

Bayern struggled despite dominating most of the match. They led in possession with 66% to 34% and had a significant advantage in shots with 25 to 8.

However, after conceding the opening goal just 71 seconds into the match, they fell behind 0-2 after giving up an additional goal to Peter Christiansen in the 38th minute of the first half.

In the second half, Harry Kane led the counterattack. After converting a penalty kick in the 9th minute of the second half, he scored a header six minutes later to level the score at 2-2.

In the 26th minute of the second half, Luis Diaz scored, turning the game around for Bayern with a 3-2 lead.

However, in the 29th minute of the second half, Michael Olise was sent off, creating a variable. Ultimately, they conceded an equalizing header to Herman Hagen in the 45th minute of the second half, ending the match in a 3-3 draw.

Although Kim Min-jae regained stability in the second half, he could not escape criticism from local German sources regarding his instability in the early stages of the game.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original