Kim Min-jae's Bayern beat Lee Jae-sung's Mainz 3-1 in Korean derby

Kim Min-jae and Bayern Munich came out on top in the first Korean derby of the 2023-24 Bundesliga season, beating Lee Jae-sung’s Mainz 3-1 at Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany.

Bayern Munich's Kim Min-jae, right, and Mainz's Lee Jae-sung, left, react after Mainz's Anthony Caci's goal during a Bundesliga game at Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany on Saturday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kim Min-jae and Bayern Munich came out on top in the first Korean derby of the 2023-24 Bundesliga season, beating Lee Jae-sung's Mainz 3-1 at Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany.

Bayern, who sit 14 spots above Mainz on the Bundesliga table and were always the favorites in Saturday's clash, got off to a very fast start with goals from Kingsley Coman and Harry Kane within 16 minutes.

Mainz, deep in the relegation zone and still without a win this season, fought back just before the break with a goal from Anthony Caci, but Leon Goretzka extended the visitors' lead in the 59th to make it 3-1.

Lee played 63 minutes in the loss but did not have a bad game, very nearly scoring in the 13th minute with a well-placed header that Sven Ulreich was only just able to turn into the post to avoid the goal.

Bayern center-back Kim played the full 90, but did not have all that much to do against some lackluster offense. According to statistics accumulator Sofascore, Kim completed 102 of 102 passes during the game, making him the first player with over 100 passes and 100 percent accuracy in one match in any of the big five European leagues since February last year.

Saturday's Korean derby marks the first time that Lee and Kim have ever faced each other on a football pitch.

The Korean duo, both regular national team picks for years now, briefly played together for K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the 2017-18 season before both heading overseas. Lee has spent the entirety of the intervening years in Germany, whilst Kim spent two years in China, a year in Turkey and a year in Italy before joining Bayern over the summer.

With young midfielder Jeong Woo-yeong also active in the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart, there are now potentially six Korean-on-Korean clashes in the league.

Stuttgart and Mainz have already faced off once this season, but Jeong was absent due to injury. The trio will be reunited with the Korean national team again in November before they next meet in the Bundesliga, with Jeong and Kim the next due to face off when Stuttgart take on Bayern in Munich on Dec. 16.

Stuttgart were also busy on Saturday, beating Union Berlin 3-0 on the road, with Jeong coming on as a substitute and picking up his second assist of the season.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]