Following an emphatic 8-1 victory over Wolfsburg on Sunday to start 2026, just three days later, on Wednesday, Bayern Munich travelled to the RheinEnergie Stadium to take on mid-table side, FC Koln.
The encounter with the team from the cathedral city was a stark contrast to the previous game as Bayern struggled to make a breakthrough during the opening 45 minutes and fell behind when Koln’s attacking midfielder Linton Maina scored the game’s opening goal late in the half on the counterattack. However, deep into first-half added time, Serge Gnabry levelled the score with a brilliant finish from a seemingly impossible angle.
In the second half, Bayern continued to push forward and eventually secured the victory courtesy of a header from Kim Mn-jae in the 71st minute. Towards the end, an excellent one-time finish from substitute Lennart Karl added a measure of gloss to the scoreline. Let’s take a look at the players who stood out for Die Roten in the victory from matchday 17.
Kim Min-jae
Often maligned for his untimely errors, since the latter half of his first season in Bavaria, Kim Min-jae managed to keep his critics silent on Wednesday by being both Bayern’s best defender as well as the scorer of the crucial second goal.
With 85 touches in the game, the South-Korean defender completed 95% of his passes (70/74). Courtesy of his excellent positional play throughout the game, Kim made seven clearances, completed six recoveries, and also blocked one shot.
Nearing the hour mark, the 29-year-old center-back showed an amazing turn of pace to chase down and dispossess Jakub Kaminiski when it initially appeared as if the Koln midfielder was clean through for a one-on-one versus Manuel Neuer. For shining distinctly at both ends of the pitch, with the spotlight on him, Kim just edges out the next player on this list for the man-of-the-match award.