Bayern Munich core defender Kim Min-jae is expected to start alongside Eric Dier against SC Freiburg.
“Thomas Tuchel has made no secret of his defensive plans against Freiburg,” German media outlet Bild reported on Monday (Jan. 1).
Munich will host SC Freiburg in the 24th round of the 2023-24 German Bundesliga at the Europa-Park Stadion in Freiburg, Germany, at 4:30 a.m. on February 2.
Heading into the match, Munich sits in second place in the league with 53 points (W17 D2 L4). They are eight points behind leader Bayer Leverkusen (61 points). Freiburg is in ninth place with 29 points (W8 D5 L10).
After snapping a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 home win over RB Leipzig in the 23rd round of the league last month, Munich will look to start a winning streak with a victory over Freiburg and reignite the title race with Leverkusen.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference one day ahead of the match, Tuchel confirmed that he will start Kim Min-Jae in the starting lineup against Freiburg after resting him in the last match.
“Kim Min-Jae will play (against Freiburg),” Tuchel said. Upamecano is fit, but he’s suspended for the next game against Lazio, so it makes more sense for him to play,” Tuchel said.
Following the win over Freiburg, Munich will host SS Lazio in the second leg of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League round of 16 at the Allianz Arena on June 6 at 5:00 am. In the first leg of the round of 16 at Lazio’s home ground, Munich lost 0-1.
Munich center back Dayo Upamecano has been handed a one-match suspension after being sent off for a second yellow card for a dangerous tackle on a player’s ankle in the second half of the first leg of the round of 16 against Lazio. The foul was committed from inside the penalty box, and Upamecano’s penalty was converted to send the first leg to Lazio.
With a win in the second leg a must if they were to progress to the Champions League quarterfinals, Tuchel wanted his players to come into the Lazio match with a heightened sense of urgency after the Freiburg game.
Upamecano, who was unavailable against Lazio, was therefore ruled out of the squad for Freiburg. In addition, Dutch defender Matthijs Durich was cautioned in the previous game, taking his total to five yellow cards in the Bundesliga this season and automatically serving a one-match suspension. Therefore, Kim Min-jae is likely to start alongside Eric Dier against Freiburg.
“After Matthias Düricht’s suspension, Kim Min-Jae will come in and defend alongside Eric Dier, who is on loan from Tottenham,” Bild claims.
Kim Min-Jae is a self-proclaimed core Munich defender. Since joining from SSC Napoli last summer, Kim has been an integral part of Munich’s defense, making 26 사설토토 appearances and playing 2,082 minutes in all competitions.
After recently returning to Munich from the South Korean national team after the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar, where he started three consecutive matches, Kim made a brief appearance against Leipzig, coming off the bench in the 36th minute of the second half, given the grueling schedule he had been through.
Well-rested, he and Dier hoped to protect the win in Freiburg and carry the momentum into the Champions League last-16 second leg against Lazio.
Meanwhile, Tuchel revealed that Joshua Kimmich will start at right-back to play on the right side of the center-back line of Kim and Dyer. Left-back Alfonso Davies has just returned from a medial ligament injury to his left knee, so he is doubtful to start.
In addition to Davies, Serge Gnabry (left adductor), Leroy Sane (patellar tendon), Kingsley Coman (torn left knee ligament), Buna Sarr (torn left knee cruciate ligament), Tarek Buchman (thigh surgery) Sacha Boye and Noussaïr Mazrouei (lower left thigh hamstring) are also listed as doubtful as they are still nursing injuries or have just returned from injury.