The sending off of Minjae Kim only briefly overshadowed FC Bayern Munich ’s 2-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise. Coach Vincent Kompany demonstratively stood in front of his central defender after the Champions League match and calmly and uncritically acknowledged the yellow card.
„He’s experienced, he’s won the Scudetto in Italy and the Bundesliga, he’s an international. Red cards are part of soccer,“ explained Kompany at the post-match press conference. The Bayern coach was pragmatic about the fact that Kim will be suspended for the upcoming game: „Fortunately, it’s not a crucial one.“
The sending off came at an inopportune moment for the South Korean. Kim had replaced Dayot Upamecano, who was absent due to illness, and put in a largely solid performance until his second tactical foul after around an hour. Strong in tackles, attentive in his positioning and without any major wobbles, he was initially one of the more stable players in defence.
Kompany also praised the work of his central defenders. „In terms of performance, Minjae and Tah helped us a lot in this game to avoid unnecessary actions. They defended well in the first half, while others perhaps didn’t show their best performance,“ said the coach. From Kim’s point of view, it was all the more bitter that he had to leave the pitch early despite a decent performance – especially as he had already been cautioned and should have acted more cautiously.
Kompany: „As a defender myself, I know…“
The Bayern coach nevertheless denied the 29-year-old any nervousness and also referred to his own experience. „As a defender myself, I know that something like that can happen,“ explained Kompany. The decisive factor is how a player deals with such situations. „I know Minjae, that won’t rattle him. He’s no longer a 19-year-old youngster.“
In fact, Kim had recently shown several times how important he can be for Munich with his presence and aggression. The sending off did nothing to change that from the coach’s point of view. Rather, it fell into the category of unfortunate but explainable scenes.
Despite being outnumbered, FC Bayern managed to secure the win and are now safely through to the last 16 of the Champions League. For Kim, the evening was a mixture of a decent performance and an annoying exit.
