Kim Min-jae is getting a little closer to the trophy

With Kim Min-jae guarding the backline, Bayern Munich crushed Eintracht Frankfurt, the third-place team in the league, 3-0.

Bayern Munich crushed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 in the 23rd round of the 2024-2025 German Bundesliga at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

Bayern continued its lead with 18 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss, earning 58 points. Third-place Frankfurt remained at 42 points with 12 wins, 6 draws, and 5 losses.

It was the last of Bayern's recent 'hellish four-game series'. In the past two weeks, Bayern had to play two UEFA Champions League (UCL) tournament playoffs, as well as Bundesliga second-place Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Frankfurt. Despite criticism about his performance, he achieved 1 win and 1 draw against Celtic and advanced to the round of 16. He drew 0-0 away at Leverkusen. Finally, he defeated Frankfurt at home and successfully completed the 4-game series.

Earlier, there was a local report that Kim Min-jae had requested a rest from the club. It was said that Kim Min-jae, who had been playing with Achilles tendonitis since October of last year and sometimes had to endure with painkillers, had appealed about his declining performance and increasing risk of injury. Kim Min-jae had rested on the bench in the away game against Celtic on the 13th.

However, Kim Min-jae was once again in the starting lineup. Instead, Dayo Upamecano was out with a slight muscle injury, and Josip Stanišić was out with a stomach problem. With two center backs out, Kim Min-jae could not rest, and Eric Dier was sent out as his partner. Since multi-defender Hiroki Ito also played as a left back, there were no center backs on the bench.

On this day, the striker that Kim Min-jae had to keep an eye on the most was Hugo Ekitike. Frankfurt's ace in the first half, Omar Marmusi, transferred to Manchester City, but they were still undefeated in the Bundesliga in the second half. Ekitike was at the center of it all. Ekitike scored 6 goals this year, including in the cup competition, and 4 of them were after Marmusi left, showing his consistent attacking prowess. He was recording 12 goals and 3 assists in the league.

Kim Min-jae gave up some of his stable passes that day and played a lot of kicking plays, so his pass success rate was 89%. It was a rare game where Kim Min-jae's pass success rate was below the team average. He ranked 2nd in the game with 87 passes. He won 5 out of 6 aerial duels, recording the most wins. He recorded 3 kickings and 7 recoveries.