Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring the decisive goal against Paris Saint-Germain during a league phase match at the UEFA Champions League at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on Tuesday. (AFP-Yonhap)
In a first UEFA Champions League showdown between South Korean players in 13 years, Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich scored his first continental goal against Paris Saint-Germain, featuring countryman Lee Kang-in.
The rare goal by the South Korean center back proved decisive as Bayern defeated PSG 1-0 at Allianz Arena in Munich on Tuesday during the league phase of the top European club competition.
With their second victory of the competition, Bayern improved to six points, ranking 19th among 36 contestants. PSG, with a win, a draw, and two losses, remained at four points, placing them in 25th.
Starting this year, the European football body replaced the traditional group stage with a joint ranking system. The 36 teams each play eight matches against randomly drawn opponents, with the top eight teams receiving a bye to the round of 16. Teams ranked ninth to 24th will enter playoffs for the knockout phase, while those from 25th to 36th will be eliminated.
Hosting PSG with Lee on the bench at the start, Kim headed home the match's only goal in the 38th minute, following a corner kick.
Before Tuesday, Kim had played in 22 Champions League matches without finding the net.
Kim contributed to Bayern's clean-sheet win with his typically reliable defensive work and was named Player of the Match. UEFA's Technical Observer Panel noted, "He decided the game with his goal and showed immense strength in his duels."
Bayern have now won seven consecutive matches in all competitions without conceding, their longest such streak since September 2011.
PSG played the final 40 minutes down a man after Ousmane Dembele was sent off for a second yellow card following a hard challenge on Alphonso Davies.
Lee entered the match in the 65th minute as PSG's first substitution, replacing Warren Zaire-Emery, but could not change the outcome.
This marked the first Champions League meeting between South Korean players since 2011, when Park Ji-sung's Manchester United faced Park Joo-ho's FC Basel. The two clubs drew 3-3 on Sept. 27 before Basel won 2-1 on Dec. 7 to advance to the knockout stage, sending Manchester United to the Europa League. (Yonhap)
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