Bayern Munich freshman Hiroki Ito suffered an injury in the friendly, where he started alongside Kim Min-jae, and was replaced early.
Bayern Munich played a friendly against FC Düren of the Legionnaires' Liga West (fourth division) at the Karl-Knipprat-Stadion in Jülich, Germany, on Monday (Aug. 28).
Munich lined up in a 3-4-3 formation on the day. Sven Ulreich was in goal, while Josip Stanisic, Min-Jae Kim, and Hiroki Ito formed the back three. The left and right fullbacks were Raphael Guerreiro and Sacha Boye, while Leon Goretzka and Eric Dier combined in the middle. The front three of Briaan Zaragoza, Matthijs Tell, and Adin Rijkaard completed the front three.
As a pre-season friendly, both teams aimed to test their players' fitness and improve their performances. As we get closer to the start of the season, the last thing we need is an injury in a friendly, but unfortunately, Ito picked up an injury and had to be substituted early.
Ito, who started the match as part of the back three, took a knock to the foot in the 18th minute and went to the ground. The medical staff were immediately called in to assess his condition, and the bench decided to substitute Ito despite the early hour. Ito was eventually replaced by Adam Aznou with 20 minutes left in the first half.
While the substitutions may have been made to avoid overdoing it in a friendly, Munich fans were unnerved to see their new summer signing injured in a pre-season friendly.
After the end of the season, Munich completed the signing of Ito from Stuttgart on May 14th. The transfer fee was €28 million ($41.5 billion) with options, and the contract runs until June 2028.
The Japanese defender, born in 1999, arrived in Europe in the summer of 2021 after leaving Jubilo Iwata for Stuttgart in Japan's J-League 2. In his debut season in Europe, Ito was the first-choice defender for Stuttgart in 2021-22, making 31 appearances and playing 2,528 minutes in all competitions.
Stuttgart were so pleased with Ito's performance that they made the move permanent at the end of the 토토사이트 순위 season. Since then, Ito has improved every season, becoming one of the Bundesliga's top defenders.
After playing 3,191 minutes in 37 appearances last season, Ito's 2023-24 campaign was cut short due to his call-up to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar, but he anchored Stuttgart's defense in 29 games, playing 2,502 minutes.
Ito's play helped Stuttgart finish second in the Bundesliga this season, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 14 years, and they finished the season in second place, relegating Bundesliga giants Munich to third.
Ito's performances caught the eye of Munich, who immediately made a move to sign him after the 2023-24 season ended. The arrival of Ito, who is regarded as one of the top center backs in the Bundesliga, was expected to heat up the competition at the position.
Ito has begun to adapt to his new club with the help of fellow Asian Kim Min-jae. “Kim Min-jae is helping Hiroki Ito settle in at the club,” German media outlet TZ recently reported.
Ito and Kim played together in a friendly match against FC Rotach-Gern (7. Bundesliga) at Munich's training camp in Tegernsee, Bavaria, Germany, on Sept. 25.
After a 7-1 first half, Munich made 11 changes to its starting lineup in the second half, bringing on Kim and Ito. The duo anchored the team's defense in the second half and did not allow a goal in the 14-1 victory.
For the next friendly, Munich named Kim and Ito side-by-side in the starting lineup. It was highly anticipated that the duo would once again showcase their chemistry from the last friendly, but Ito suffered an unexpected injury and had to leave the field early.
