Kim Min-jae and Kang-In Lee’s Champions League Round of 16 opponents
Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain-PSG) will face off in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) Round of 16 against teams they both scored against last season.
UEFA held the draw for the round of 16 of the 2023-2024 UCL in Nyon, Switzerland, on Aug. 18 (KST). Kim Min-jae’s team, Munich, will face Lazio (Italy), while Lee Kang-in’s team, PSG, will face Real Sociedad (Spain). The round of 16 will be held in February and March next year, with home and away matches.
Both players will be facing teams from the Italian and Spanish leagues, where they played before being transferred just before this season.
Lazio and Real Sociedad also have Japanese national team members Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo on the roster, giving the game a Korean-Japanese flavor. South Korea and Japan will be competing at the Asian Cup in Qatar from January to February next year, and the Champions League will be a battle of pride after the Asian Cup.
For Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in, this is not a bad draw. They faced each other last season, so they know their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, which is a positive.
In addition, both players have scored goals against Lazio and Real Sociedad.
Kim Min-jae led Napoli to their first Italian title in 33 years in the 2022-2023 season, scoring two goals and two assists, one of which came against Lazio.
On Sept. 3 last year, Kim Min-jae headed home a corner kick in the 37th minute of a 0-1 deficit against Lazio. After equalizing, Napoli came back to win the game with a late goal from Kvarachelia.
Lee scored six goals and provided seven assists for Mallorca last season, including one against Real Sociedad.
At the time, Mallorca played three games against Real Sociedad – two in the league and one in a cup competition – and came away with two wins and a draw.
In the last meeting on March 12, Lee scored his third goal of the season. With the score at 0-1, he beat the 스포츠토토 opposing goalkeeper in the fifth minute of the second half to tie the game, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
It will be interesting to see if Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in can make it to the quarterfinals together, as they will be facing teams they have fond memories of, including scoring the equalizer.
