Rain of criticism on Kim Min Jae. The former Napoli defender was chosen at the last minute to replace Matthijs de Ligt in the match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, valid for the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals and which ended 2-2. A choice which, unfortunately for the Bavarians , turned out to be disastrous, given that the Korean was the negative protagonist in both goals scored by Ancelotti’s team.
First he let Kroos’ vertical pass pass him for Vinicius, letting the Brazilian come face to face with Neuer and beat him; then he naively tripped Rodrygo, causing the final 2-2 penalty. Neuer himself tried to defend him: “We talked about it in the dressing room. Mistakes happen, it’s part of football. This doesn’t mean that he will hurt in the next matches. He played very well today, but in some crucial moments perhaps he didn’t take the right decisions, which always happens in football.”
Thomas Tuchel, as always, was a little harsher in the press conference. “He was too hasty on the two occasions. He took his first step too early and let Toni Kroos’ pass pass him. He was too aggressive. Unfortunately, on the second goal he made another mistake: we were 5 against 2, we were superior and there was no need to defend aggressively against Rodrygo. Just as Dier arrived, Kim knocked out Rodrygo. Unfortunately these mistakes are punished, but these things happen.”