'Player protection?'

Bayern Munich won 3-2 against St. Pauli in the 27th round of the 2024-2025 Bundesliga at their home ground, Allianz Arena, in Munich, Germany, on the 29th (Korean time).

With this victory, Bayern Munich continued to lead the Bundesliga with 65 points.

Bayern Munich saw Kim Min-jae, returning from injury, play alongside Eric Dier as center-back. The starting eleven included Jonas Urbig, Kim Min-jae, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Harry Kane, Leroy Sané, Dier, Michael Olise, Raphael Guerreiro, Konrad Laimer, and Jamal Musiala.

Currently, Bayern Munich's defense is in a devastated state due to injuries. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is out indefinitely due to a calf injury. Alfonso Davies has suffered a serious injury with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. To make matters worse, Kim Min-jae's partner, Dayot Upamecano, is out for at least three months with a knee injury.

Ultimately, Kim Min-jae returned early despite not fully recovering from his injury and played a solo defense. This is in direct contradiction to Bayern's recent policy of emphasizing player protection while negotiating with national teams. In fact, shortly after his release from the national team for the A match, German media reported that Kim Min-jae would not return until early April for management reasons.

In fact, Kim Min-jae had been struggling with a hamstring injury since October. Ultimately, his injury worsened ahead of the March A match call-up, and he was unable to come to Korea. Coach Hong Myung-bo noted Kim Min-jae's condition and released him from the national team, expressing regret, stating, 'There is an issue with Bayern's player protection.'

Kim Min-jae essentially embarked on a 'solo endurance' mission, as even Hiroki Ito, who was waiting on the bench to play, fell injured.

Bayern Munich substituted in Kim Min-jae. This was a natural reason from the perspective of the 'employer.' Benefiting from Korean media pressure, Bayern Munich exhibited signs of overuse.

Due to the team's circumstances, there were no players who could play due to multiple injuries, so they decided to field Kim Min-jae, even if he was not at 100%. Bayern Munich, which had emphasized player protection during national team call-ups, is now reasoning that 'we are the employers who pay the player’s salary.' Bayern is also clashing with the Canadian Soccer Association over Davies' injury.

Although they won that day, it was a match where Bayern felt the significant absence in their defense. On that day, Bayern showed decent attacking power with goals from Kane in the 17th minute and a multi-goal performance by Sané in the 8th and 26th minutes of the second half.

However, the defense was problematic. In the first situation of St. Pauli, the absence of key defenders was felt. Rather, they conceded after allowing a counterattack in the 26th minute of the first half. In the absence of Davies at left-back, Guerreiro failed to prevent the opponent from sending a cross comfortably.

Then, in a subsequent situation, Kim Min-jae failed to intercept the play, and Dier did not maintain the offside line properly, allowing Elias Saad to easily score the equalizer. If Upamecano had been there instead of Dier, the reaction might have been quicker to prevent the goal.

Moreover, in the 12th minute of the second half, Hiroki Ito, who returned in place of Guerreiro, also triggered his typical injury-prone mode. Ito's skills can be regarded as the best among Bayern's left-backs missing Davies, but he has continued to get injured, hampering the team.

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