Even though they won, I wonder if this combination is right.
Bayern Munich marked 65 points with a 3-2 victory against St. Pauli in the '2024-25 Bundesliga Round 27' held at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on the 29th at 11:30 p.m. (Korea time).
Before the match, the starting lineup was announced. Kim Min-jae, returning from injury, paired with Eric Dier at center-back. The best eleven for Munich consists of Jonas Urbig, Kim Min-jae, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Harry Kane, Leroy Sané, Dier, Michael Olise, Rafael Guerreiro, Konrad Laimer, and Jamal Musiala.
Non-Munich is in a state where the defense line is devastated due to injuries. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is out indefinitely due to a calf injury. Alphonso Davies has suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury. To make matters worse, Kim Min-jae's partner, Dayo Upamecano, is out for at least three months with a knee injury.
Ultimately, Kim Min-jae, who has not fully recovered from injury, had to return early and shoulder the burden of defense. This directly contradicts Bayern's recent policy of prioritizing player protection, especially as it wrangles with national teams. Following the initial call-up release for international matches, German media reported that Kim Min-jae would not return until early April for management reasons.
In fact, Kim Min-jae, whose hamstring had not been good since October, ultimately worsened his injury ahead of the March international match, and he could not join Korea. Coach Hong Myung-bo expressed regret, stating, "There are issues with Bayern's player protection" upon hearing about Kim Min-jae's condition and releasing him from the call-up.
In response to this, there was a debate in Germany, stating, "If the Korean national team was worried about Kim Min-jae, they should not have called him up since last October." If Bayern uses Kim Min-jae as a starter early in the match on the 29th, it will appear as inconsistent behavior.
Given the team's situation with injuries, they would be fielding Kim Min-jae, even though he is not at 100%. Bayern, which had cited player protection during national team call-ups, argues that "we are the employers paying the players' salaries." Bayern is also in conflict with the Canadian Football Association over Davies' injury.
Although they won that day, Bayern felt a significant absence in the defense line. Bayern scored an early goal within a short time. Kane broke through to score the opening goal with a precise finish in a scramble during the 17th minute of the first half. However, adding additional goals proved challenging. They continued to attack but were constantly thwarted by St. Pauli's physical play.
On the contrary, they allowed a counterattack in the 26th minute of the first half. First, Guerreiro, who stepped in for the absent Davies on the left flank, failed to prevent the opponent from comfortably delivering a cross. Kim Min-jae was unable to cut it off, and Dier did not properly maintain the offside line, leading to Elias Saad easily scoring the equalizer.
However, Bayern started to take a 3-1 lead with Sané scoring multiple goals in the 8th and 26th minutes of the second half. Additionally, Ito, who was substituted in the 42nd minute of the second half, collapsed due to injury. He had entered in the 13th minute of the second half, replacing Guerreiro, and contributed to Sané's additional goal with good overlapping but collapsed again due to injury and had to leave the match.
Having already used all their substitution cards, Bayern had to endure with ten players. Bayern, which was trying to hold on, allowed the opponents to score a goal during stoppage time in the second half, capitalizing on the numerical disadvantage, closing the gap to one goal. The match ended with Bayern's victory, but it was a rather uneasy game in many ways.
Despite the victory, Bayern exposed defensive instability even against a relegation-threatened weak team, and with Ito collapsing, the uncertainty looms larger. In fact, both times the team conceded goals, the organization of the entire defense collapsed. Bayern is increasingly concerned about upcoming matches against strong teams.
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