After Vinicus Junior (r.) gave Real the lead, the Munich team showed morale and fighting spirit.
Photo: imago/Sven Simon
Minjae Kim quickly came out of the dressing room as one of the first FC Bayern players. The central defender immediately headed towards the exit of the Munich Arena. The South Korean looked embarrassed, his 1.90 meter tall body no longer seemed as massive as usual. This was probably not just because he was aware of his two serious mistakes before conceding the goals in the 2:2 (0:1). Real Madrid was aware. Coach Thomas Tuchel may have also contributed to Kim disappearing into the night like a walking heap of misery with his ruthless openness.
“He was too greedy twice,” Tuchel criticized the defender at the press conference, just as clearly as before in front of the television cameras and also in the dressing room, as the players reported. Kim’s repeated failure was also notable because he came from Naples last summer as officially the best central defender in the Italian Serie A for a fee of 50 million euros. But Tuchel’s 27-year-old dream player has now developed a similar tendency to make serious mistakes as his colleague Dayot Upamecano, whom FC Bayern brought from Leipzig in the summer of 2021 for 42.5 million euros. This is also why Eric Dier, who was only a reserve at Tottenham until January, has strangely become Bayern’s defense chief.
However, Dier’s presence and calm did not save Kim from falling into the trap like an overzealous apprentice before the 0-1 lead, when Vinicius Junior lured him out with his run into midfield, then started past him into the depths and hit the perfect through ball Toni Kroos took the lead in the 24th minute. It was a goal like the bite of a cobra, which struck again in the final stages after Kim made the next crucial mistake. In the penalty area, the representative of the injured Matthijs de Ligt held Real’s Rodrygo and also blocked his left thigh. In doing so, he caused the penalty that Vinicius Junior converted to the final score in the 83rd minute. “There too: No need to defend so aggressively,” complained Tuchel. At least the trainer gave Kim some encouragement: “He has to go through that now, it’s happened and let’s move on.”
Looking back at both games against Real, Kim’s mistakes could possibly decide whether FC Bayern will go on to the final. What is certain is that the Munich team will take the missed victory with them as a mortgage to the second leg next Wednesday at the thunderous Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. In addition to Dier, Kim is unlikely to defend there, but either De Ligt, if he gets fit after his knee injury, or Upamecano.
Far from the mistakes, Tuesday evening also showed that there is definitely reason to look forward to the second leg with confidence. “We saw that we can more than keep up,” said right-back Joshua Kimmich. “It’s always possible to have scoring chances against Real, and I think we’ll be able to do that next week too.”
In fact, with the strong Konrad Laimer in central midfield, the Munich team had significantly more shots than Madrid – and caused the arena to shake twice. First by Leroy Sané, who moved in from the right and hit the near corner with a hard left-footed shot in the 53rd minute. Four minutes later, Jamal Musiala dribbled home a penalty, which Harry Kane converted to make it 2-1.
But then Carlo Ancelotti’s team showed that they are always a force to be reckoned with. »That’s exactly Real Madrid. They make a lot out of very little,” said Bavaria’s sports director Max Eberl, “you just can’t afford to make any mistakes.” What will be important in Madrid? “To play exactly the same way without making the mistakes,” said Eberl. “It sounds relatively simple, but if we can do that, we can also win at Real Madrid.” Real’s German international Kroos also warned about this: “We know that we are good at home. But we also know that Bayern can beat anyone in a game.
Meanwhile, in the background, the signing of Ralf Rangnick is getting closer. According to media reports, the 65-year-old has indicated to the Munich team that he is fundamentally willing to succeed Tuchel next season. However, details still need to be clarified. Bayern also have to agree on a transfer fee for the national coach with the Austrian Football Association. Bayern President Herbert Hainer said they were “in very good discussions” with Rangnick. “Good things take time, but at some point they come to a happy end,” said Eberl. If he has his way, this should wait until after the hoped-for happy ending in the second leg in Madrid. So until after the desired entry into the final at Wembley.
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