Steve McManaman claims Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae had a ‘night to forget’ amid ‘sloppy’ performance gifting Real Madrid a penalty
Steve McManaman has claimed Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae had a ‘night to forget’ after Thomas Tuchel’s side allowed Real Madrid to stage a comeback and secure a 2-2 draw in their opening semi-final match Champions League.
Vinicius Jnr opened the scoring at the Allianz Stadium, breaking free from poor positioning from Kim before sliding the ball around Manuel Neuer into the net.
Bayern hit back with two goals from Leroy Sane and a penalty from Harry Kane, but the home side failed to finish the match, with Kim conceding a penalty in the 83rd minute, bringing down Rodrygo in the penalty area.
It was a costly mistake that allowed Vinicius Jnr to make the score 2-2 and give Madrid a lifeline heading into their second leg at the Bernabéu.
“Sloppy, so sloppy, you can’t touch it,” McManaman told TNT Sports about Kim’s penalty challenge.
‘Beautiful play by Vinicius Jnr. That’s a fine. What is he playing with? [Kim] take on such a challenge?
‘It doesn’t matter what level you play at. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes will cost you dearly,” he added.”
‘That was the lifeline Real Madrid needed. Nice ball from Vini Jnr. Nice poke ball to Rodrygo. But why is he [Kim] making the decision to tackle. Eric Dier is the sweeper behind him. And he is [Vini’s] I don’t miss that.’
Reflecting on Bayern’s inability to close out the match, McManaman later said: ‘Kim had a night to forget at this level. Can he switch it on again at the Bernabeu next week?’
It was Vinicius Jnr’s excellent pass to Rodrygo that forced Kim into the tackle, with Glenn Hoddle praising the Brazilian for the excellent ball that forced the defender to pull Rodrygo to the ground.
“Vinicius is doing really well here and it’s like he steps into the box and says, ‘Take me down,’” Hoddle told TNT Sports.
‘But what a cute little ball [to Rodrygo]. Kim is on the wrong side because the ball is so cute that it ends up on the wrong side. He tried to make the tackle but it’s an easy decision for the referee. Again it’s a penalty. But what a wonderful ball from Vinicius.
Hoddle also gave his verdict on Vinicius Jnr’s opening goal, claiming Kim had gotten too close to Vinicius Jnr, allowing the Brazilian forward to explode past him.
Hoddle said: ‘From Kim’s point of view, if an attacker comes away from you to make them sort of dummy runs, you don’t sprint in, you go in stages. He never did that. He went in one run and very quickly, he was caught square and then the ball went in at the back and Vinicius did it completely.”
Owen Hargreaves added: “I think Kim came in today and just tried to be a little too aggressive. We see a lot of defenders trying to press and be very aggressive, and sometimes just stand still.
‘I think when he looks back at the game, the first goal is so avoidable. I think they will look at that and think: we just have to go to Madrid and clean up our mistakes.’
More to follow…
