'He was too greedy!' - Thomas Tuchel fumes at Kim Min-jae for errors in Real Madrid draw
- Bayern Munich drew 2-2 with Real Madrid in first leg of Champions League semi-final
- Both Madrid goals came from errors by Kim Min-jae
- Thomas Tuchel criticised South Korean following shocking display
By Sean Walsh
Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel was critical of defender Kim Min-jae for his errors in their 2-2 draw with Real Madrid on Tuesday.
The Bavarians were held to a stalemate by Los Blancos at the Allianz Arena in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, but both of the visitors' goals came from mistakes by Kim.
Vinicius Junior was allowed to open the scoring after the South Korean centre-back pushed up into midfield and vacated space for the pacy forward to run into, slotting past Manuel Neuer following a fine pass from Toni Kroos.
Bayern went in front following two quick-fire goals from Leroy Sane and Harry Kane just after half-time and seemed to be heading to a valuable victory, but Kim needlessly dived in on Rodrygo in the box with under ten minutes remaining. Vinicius stepped up and secured his brace from the penalty spot.
Speaking to the press post-match, Tuchel revealed his fury at Kim for costing Bayern.
"He was too 'greedy' twice," he said. "He made the first move too early against Vinicius in the first goal and got caught by Toni Kroos' pass. He speculated and was too aggressive.
"In the second goal, unfortunately it was another mistake. We were five against two, we had the numbers. There was no need to defend that aggressively against Rodrygo.
"The moment Eric [Dier] was about to help, he [Kim] brought him [Rodrygo] down. Unfortunately with their quality, these mistakes get punished. But well, it happens. We have to move on."
Kim joined Bayern from Napoli last summer for a €58m fee, becoming the most expensive Asian player in football history. During his one season in Italy, Kim played a starring role as Napoli won their first Scudetto in 23 years, while he also picked up the Serie A Best Defender award.
However, Kim has not been able to replicate such performances for Bayern and was only drafted into the starting lineup to face Madrid due to an injury to Matthijs de Ligt.
Bayern and Madrid will reconvene at the Santiago Bernabeu next Wednesday for the second leg.