Kim Min-jae starts as Bayern drop 1st leg of Champions League quarterfinals

Min-jae Kim, left, football player at Bayern Munich fights for the ball with Lautaro Martinez, football player at Inter Milan, during the UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg between FC Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in Munich, Germany, April 8. EPA-Yonhap

Korean center back Kim Min-jae started and logged 74 minutes of action as his German side Bayern Munich lost the opening leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals against Inter Milan at home.

The visiting Italian club prevailed 2-1 over Bayern on goals by Lautaro Martinez and Davide Frattesi at Allianz Arena in Munich on Tuesday (local time). Thomas Muller had the lone goal for Bayern, who will travel to San Siro in Milan next Wednesday.

This was Kim's third match back after missing more than two weeks with Achilles tendinitis, which forced him to miss Korea's two World Cup qualifying matches and a Bundesliga match last month.

With injuries piling up for Bayern, Kim was forced to play a league match last week through flu-like symptoms and lower back pains.

In the Champions League match, Kim picked up a yellow card in the 28th minute and was replaced by Sacha Boey in the 74th minute with his club trailing 1-0 on Martinez's 38th-minute goal.

Muller pulled Bayern level in the 85th minute, but Frattesi netted the go-ahead marker just three minutes later.

Kim is one of two Korean players remaining in the UEFA Champions League. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and their Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in will host Aston Villa in the first leg of their quarterfinals matchup Wednesday night in Paris, with the second leg scheduled for next Tuesday in Birmingham, England.

Lee injured his left ankle during a World Cup qualifying match against Oman on March 20 and has not played for the French league champions since.

PSG clinched their fourth consecutive French Ligue 1 title over the weekend and are also in the final of the French Cup scheduled for May 24. (Yonhap)