Kim Min-jae included in 'Kicker's' weekly Best XI

Kim Min-jae was selected as the best team of the week by the German football magazine 'Kicker'. Leo Östigaard, a teammate from his time at Napoli, was also named.

'Kicker' revealed the best team of the week for the 24th round of the 2024-2025 German Bundesliga. The list was released after all the weekend matches of the Bundesliga were completed.

Kim Min-jae was named as a Bayern Munich player along with winger Michael Olisse. On the 1st (Korean time), Bayern Munich won 3-1 in an away game against Stuttgart in the 24th round of the 2024-2025 German Bundesliga at the MHP Arena in Stuttgart, Germany. With this win, Bayern reached 61 points with 19 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss, maintaining an 8-point gap with second-place Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Bayern has entered the trend of confirming the championship early. There are 10 games left, and Bayern must lose 3 games and Leverkusen must win all of them to make a comeback.

Kim Min-jae, who played a big role in taking a big step toward winning, received 2 points, which means an A grade, from this media outlet. ‘Actively intervened in important situations in the penalty area. Defended 7 times. Showed a strong performance in aerial and ground ball duels throughout the 90 minutes, recording a duel win rate of 87.5%. He was like a top player responsible for the back of the strongest German team.’ This was accompanied by the evaluation that Kim Min-jae and Olisse were the only two players to receive 2 points in this game.

Kim Min-jae was selected as the best of the week for only the second time this season. Kim Min-jae was also selected as the best of the week in September last year, when they drew 1-1 with Leverkusen, receiving 2 points.

Another notable player is Hoffenheim center back Leo Östigård. He led Hoffenheim to a difficult 1-0 win over Bochum, keeping a clean sheet for the entire game. This is Östigår’s first Bundesliga Best of the Week selection.

The player with the most selections so far is Omar Marmusi (then Frankfurt), who played only the first half of the season and then transferred to Manchester City in England, but has recorded nine. Harry Kane (Bayern) is in second place with eight, so he is expected to surpass him soon. It is also notable that the duo of Burkaard and Nadim Amiri, who are leading the Mainz storm, are tied for third place with Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen) with five.

Kim Min-jae’s two selections are not as few as you might think. Unlike attackers who consistently make it to the Best of the Week if they score goals, defenders change every week with a small difference in ratings. Piero Incapie, who is the most selected center back, has only three selections. From this perspective, there are many times when ‘Kicker’ is too harsh on Kim Min-jae, but on the other hand, there are also many times when he is recognized as the main player in the victory.