Bayern Munich will play Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarterfinals of the 2023/24 season at the Emirates Stadium in London, England, at 4 a.m. on the 10th (Korea time).

Attention is being paid to whether Kim Min-jae will start or not. He played as a starting member for the first time in a long time against Heidenheim on the 6th. It has been five games.

It was good to hear that Kim Min-jae will play as a starting pitcher for the first time in a long time, but it is not the same. This is because the feeling of being a rotation resource cannot be reduced.

Bayern Munich operated its rotation against Heidenheim ahead of the match against Arsenal.

Kim Min-jae is expected to take another break from the match against Arsenal. For now, the team accompanied him on the road trip.

However, there are also opinions that Kim Min-jae will start against Arsenal.

Football statistics site "Huscoord Dotcom" predicted that Kim Min-jae will start with Dayo Upamecano.

It was expected that Kim Min-jae would take on the heavy task of taking charge of Bayern Munich's defense in a showdown that will determine its fate.

Kim Min-jae made an appearance on the professional stage through Jeonbuk Hyundai. He displayed tremendous presence that was not like a rookie, and moved to Fenerbahce in Turkiye via Beijing Guoan, where he entered the European stage.

Kim Min-jae did not need to adapt to the European stage. He showed off his presence right after joining the team, making a good impression and establishing himself as a key resource.

Napoli, who noticed the possibility of Kim Min-jae, moved and promised to accompany him in July 2022.

Kim Min-jae's presence was also effective in Naples. He dominated the Italian stage by displaying his presence as a monster defender. He made his presence known through amazing performances.

In particular, after helping Napoli advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) and win Serie A for the first time in 33 years, it won the league's best defensive award, raising its stock price.

Based on his performance in Naples, Kim Min-jae was also listed in the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or, which is given to the world's best player.

Kim Min-jae did not leave him alone. He was connected to a big club every day. Bayern Munich was the most active.

Bayern Munich actively sent a love call and invested the highest transfer fee in Asia to confirm the recruitment of Kim Min-jae in the summer of 2023.

Kim Min-jae was selected as the best 11 as he showed off his tremendous performance even though it was his Bundesliga debut season.

Kim Min-jae was also named in the Langliste in the first half of the 2023/24 season selected by German media Kicker.

Langliste is a grade in which Germany's leading media "Kicker" evaluates the performance of German Bundesliga players and German national players during the period.

Langliste is divided into Weltklasse (World Class), Internationale Klasse (International Class), and Nationale Klasse (National Class).

While Kim Min-jae plays a pivotal role in Bayern Munich, there is also controversy over overwork. Some pointed out that he did not show proper performance as he was exhausted.

Kim Min-jae was in charge of Bayern Munich's defense without a break due to the injuries of Upamecano and De Ligt.

Kim Min-jae is feeling the atmosphere of being pushed back in the starting competition. It started on the bench for four consecutive games.

Kim Min-jae's position was filled by Dyer, a freshman who left Tottenham Hotspur and joined ahead of this season. As he showed an unexpectedly stable defense when he took the opportunity, he gradually expanded his position, raising concerns that Kim Min-jae might be losing ground.

Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel said, "It's really difficult for Kim Min-jae. He deserves to start, he's a very good player. But this can happen sometimes. Dier and Matthijs de Licht had two difficult home games, and this time it was the same."

German media 'Bild' mentioned Kim Min-jae's name, saying, "New losers have emerged under Tuchel."

"Kim Min-jae was Tuchel's favorite player. However, he started three of the past four games on the bench," he added.

At the same time, Tuchel said, "Coach Tuchel spent 50 million euros and even talked on the phone several times to recruit Kim Min-jae. He even persuaded his dream player," shedding light on the current situation.

British media "Team Talk" responded, "If Dyer had said he would go to Bayern Munich when Tottenham and beat Kim Min-jae, who was loved by Premier League (PL) clubs, everyone would have thought it was a joke."

Rumors of a transfer to Inter Milan have emerged as Kim Min-jae's position in Bayern Munich has been unstable, starting on the bench recently.

"Inter Milan is not thinking about Kim Min-jae," said Fabrizio Viacin, a reporter who is well-versed in the Inter Milan situation, on social media on the 25th.

The news that Inter Milan is interested in Kim Min-jae drew attention.

Italian media La Gazeta delo Sport said on the 22nd, "The dream of reinforcing Inter Milan's defense is Kim Min-jae."

The ransom also fell as Kim Min-jae's atmosphere of location anxiety was detected.

According to the soccer statistics site 'Transfer Market', Kim Min-jae's ransom reached 60 million euros (about 87.6 billion), but fell to 55 million euros (about 80.3 billion).

Japan's leading star Takefusa Kubo took the top spot as Kim Min-jae's ransom fell.

South Korea firmly maintained its No. 1 position in Asia's highest ransom from Son Heung-min to Kim Min-jae, but gave up.

However, German legend Thomas Helmer acknowledged that Kim Min-jae's presence was sufficient.

Helmer said, "Kim Min-jae had a presence and he doesn't tackle too much. He has everything. He already proved how good a player he is and his class."

BY: 토토