Why didn't Kim Min-jae participate in team training?

2025-02-10 Dave Thomson Kim 기자

MUNICH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 23: Min-Jae Kim of FC Bayern München runs with the ball during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern München and VfL Bochum 1848 at Allianz Arena on September 23, 2023 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Kim Min-jae is still under management due to injury concerns. Although his condition is not perfect, Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany plans to use Kim Min-jae in every game as much as possible.

Bayern is preparing for the first leg of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League (UCL) tournament playoffs away to Celtic at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a match where both Bayern's Kim Min-jae and Celtic's Yang Hyun-jun are likely to play.

Bayern has faced a difficult four-game series since beating Werder Bremen 3-0 in the German Bundesliga on the 8th. They will play two games a week until the away game against Celtic on the 13th, the away game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Bundesliga) on the 16th, the home game against Celtic on the 19th, and the home game against Eintracht Frankfurt on the 24th. The two matches against Celtic are overwhelmingly superior in terms of power, but if they lose, they will be eliminated immediately. The schedule for the Bundesliga matches against 2nd place Leverkusen and 3rd place Frankfurt in Germany is also difficult. Currently, they are 8 points behind Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, but if they lose two consecutive matches, the point gap will be greatly reduced.

With the important schedule ahead, Kim Min-jae was excluded from training along with Manuel Neuer on the 9th local time. There was no new reason. Neuer is a 39-year-old veteran, so it seems he took a break.

It shows that Kim Min-jae is still not free from Achilles tendonitis. It is an injury that he started suffering from in October of last year. The best they can do is manage it little by little through rest, but Kim Min-jae has started in all but one match between Bayern and South Korea this season. He still has the second-highest number of appearances for Bayern, behind Josua Kimmich, who played the full game. Although he managed his playing time by substituting him out at the end of 11 out of 31 games, it did not have a big impact as he was subbed out at the end of each game. It is crucial for Kim Min-jae to maintain his full condition in the upcoming 4-game series.