Due to accumulated cautions (5), Kim Min-jae (27, Napoli) will miss the league final. An unlikely ‘disciplinary’ scenario. The last Serie A game for Kim Min-jae, who has been strongly linked to Manchester United, is over.
Napoli played Bologna to a 2-2 away draw in the 37th round of the 2022-2023 Serie A season at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna, Italy, at 10 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.
Having already clinched the title earlier this month, Napoli will not be affected by today’s result. However, they will be disappointed to have to settle for a point.
Kim Min-jae started the game and played 78 minutes. After being cautioned for a foul in the 39th minute, Kim’s accumulated cautions took away his chance to play in the next game, the league final.
He was cautioned for unnecessarily interfering with an opponent. It was Kim’s fifth yellow card in the league this season. In Serie A, the cumulative penalty for receiving five cautions is a one-match suspension.
Napoli will host Sampdoria on March 5 for the final 38 rounds of the Serie A season. There will be a post-match championship ceremony at home. Even if Kim won’t be able to play, he can still celebrate an early victory with his teammates.
European soccer statistics site Fúscore.com gave Kim a rating of 6.08, the lowest of all the players who started the game, as the ‘one-call’ was deemed insignificant. Including substitutes, it was the third lowest on the team. Kim Min-jae played 78 minutes, completing 90.7% of his passes and 79 ball touches.
But coincidentally, Napoli conceded the equalizer after Kim left the field in the 33rd minute of the second half. With Napoli leading 2-1, Bologna’s Silvestri equalized in the 37th minute with a well-placed goal from a corner kick. With just a slight change of direction, he rattled the Napoli net. The game ended in regulation.
For Kim Min-jae, it was the final game of the 2022-2023 season. Napoli were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) and have no further official matches to play.
“Kim Min-jae will be absent for the final match against Sampdoria,” Italian media outlet Tuttone Napoli reported.
Furthermore, the Bologna game could be Kim’s last in a Napoli jersey. Ahead of the summer transfer window, Kim is being heavily pursued by Manchester United. It has been reported that the Red Devils are willing to pay a one-time buyout in order to sign the ‘iron pillar’.먹튀검증
After stints with Korean K League 1 side Jeonbuk Hyundai and Chinese Super League side Fenerbahçe in 2021, Kim enjoyed a stellar first season in a Napoli shirt last summer.
Just one season after joining the club, Kim won the Italian Serie A title. Led by a solid defense, Napoli won the Scudetto for the first time in 33 years, since the 1989-1990 season with the late Diego Maradona.