Bayern Munich center-backs Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano saw a big challenge in facing Paris Saint-Germain — and stepped up to face it.
The central defenders played a key role in helping limit PSG’s chances, which helped the Bavarians capture a 1-0 victory in the Champions League. Min-jae even accounted for the game’s lone goal with an opportunistic first half header.
That effort did not go unnoticed.
“It’s not just Min-jae. I’ve said even before playing a single game that we have a lot of energy and good personalities in the team. We just had to work. From the first day it was important to see that strikers wouldn’t enjoy playing against our defenders, even in training. As a defender, you can’t say I’m the best after one game. You need at least 10-15 games to be able to say: maybe they’re not doing too bad. The same goes for the goalkeepers. We’re on the right track but we should continue working to improve,” said Kompany (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
Kompany also noted that Min-jae and Upamecano have been giving Bayern Munich’s forwards a tough time in training, which is a tell-tale sign that the defenders are going to get the job done in big moments.
“I watched training in the first week, and it wasn’t fun for our forwards. And if it’s not fun for the forwards in training, then you know you’ve got something there. And then the performance, that always comes with a bit of confidence and time. Of course, they don’t defend alone. Harry Kane is involved; everyone is involved, and that’s why it’s so successful at the moment,” said Kompany.
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