Bayern progress in Champions League after 3-1 win over Slovan Bratislava
Published: 30 Jan. 2025, 13:44
Updated: 30 Jan. 2025, 16:41
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- PAIK JI-HWAN
- [email protected]
![Bayern Munich players celebrate during the Champions League match against Slovan Bratislava at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on Jan. 29. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/30/636f4306-a585-48ac-9350-9814a6791594.jpg)
Bayern Munich players celebrate during the Champions League match against Slovan Bratislava at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on Jan. 29. [AP/YONHAP]
Bayern Munich concluded the league phase of the 2024-25 Champions League by reaching the knockout stage playoffs with a 12th-place finish after a 3-1 win over Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.
Bayern dominated the fixture in Munich, attempting 35 shots with 75 percent ball possession compared to Slovan’s six shots. Thomas Müller, Harry Kane and Kingsley Coman each scored a goal to secure Bayern’s final win in the league phase, where the Bundesliga giants recorded five wins and three losses.
Defender Kim Min-jae, who played the full 90 minutes on Wednesday, featured in all eight matches and also scored a goal against Paris Saint-Germain on Nov. 26 last year.
![Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae, second from left, vies for the ball during the Champions League match against Slovan Bratislava at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on Jan. 29. [AFP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/30/0eb923e7-3a77-4449-9ba9-875cc3cdb448.jpg)
Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae, second from left, vies for the ball during the Champions League match against Slovan Bratislava at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on Jan. 29. [AFP/YONHAP]
Bayern will now face a two-legged playoff to secure a spot in the round of 16. In the revamped Champions League format, clubs that finished ninth to 16th in the league phase are seeded to face unseeded 17th to 24th-placed clubs.
A playoff draw scheduled for Friday will determine whether No. 12 Bayern will face No. 21 Celtic or No. 22 Manchester City.
The playoffs will kick off on Feb. 11, with the round of 16 starting in March.
No club featuring a Korean player secured a direct ticket to the knockout stage, which is reserved for the top eight teams this season. Bayern recorded the highest finish among clubs with Korean players, while Lee Kang-in’s PSG secured the second-best finish at 15th.
The playoffs will also feature Hwang In-beom’s Feyenoord, who finished 19th, alongside Yang Hyun-jun’s Celtic.
Seol Young-woo’s Red Star Belgrade exited the tournament with a 29th-place finish, while Kim Min-su’s Girona ended their run after coming in 33rd. Teams finishing 25th to 36th automatically crash out of the Champions League.
Those still alive in the tournament will now focus on their domestic leagues before the next Champions League action, which will culminate in the final at Bayern’s home ground, Allianz Arena, on May 31.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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