Can defender Kim Min-jae (27), who is active in Italy’s Serie A Napoli, succeed in revenge against AC Milan (Italy)?
Napoli, with Kim Min-jae at the forefront, will play an away match in the first leg of the 2022-23 European Football Federation (UEFA) Champions League (UCL) quarterfinal against AC Milan in San Siro, Milan, Italy at 4:00 am (hereinafter referred to as Korean time) on the 13th.
Napoli, which is writing history by advancing to the quarterfinals of the UCL for the first time since its founding, is looking forward to this match to rise to a higher place.
For Kim Min-jae, it is a special match in that his opponent is AC Milan. Kim Min-jae has been praised for his flawless defense throughout this season. Thanks to this, Napoli conceded only 21 goals in the league and recorded 24 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses (74 points), leading the overwhelming lead.
The opportunity for Kim Min-jae, who first challenged the top 5 European leagues this season, to be recognized in earnest was the 2022-23 Serie A round 7 match against AC Milan held in September last year.
At that time, Kim Min-jae led the team to a 2-1 victory with the best performance, receiving a rating of 9 points against the strong AC Milan. Serie A’s official SNS praised ‘Wall, Kim Min-jae’ with a picture of Kim Min-jae blocking AC Milan’s shooting with his whole body.
Kim Min-jae, who further boosted his confidence through the game at the time, consistently showed off his best skills and led the high-altitude march with himself and Napoli.
On the other hand, there were also bad days, but unfortunately, the opponent was AC Milan.
In the match against AC Milan in the 28th round held on the 3rd, Kim Min-jae made a mistake and showed a disappointing appearance, and the team was also defeated 0-4. It was a shocking result for Napoli, who have never conceded more than two goals in the league this season.
Prior to that, it was a painful time for Kim Min-jae, who even caused a ‘retirement controversy’ by saying that he had “mentally collapsed” during the convocation of the Korean national soccer team.
However, Kim Min-jae’s sluggishness did not last long. On the 8th, in the 29th round against Lecce, he recorded a perfect defense as well as one assist, proving his strength and quickly overcoming the crisis.
Now, Kim Min-jae is ready to return to AC Milan while regaining the appearance of a ‘monster defender’ and go out for revenge.
This time, the important mission of advancing to the semifinals of UCL for the first time since its founding is also at stake. It is the perfect stage to announce that he, who was shaken for a while, has completely returned.
