Bayern Munich Edges Jeju SK 2-1 in Asian Tour Opener as Kim Min-jae Makes Emotional South Korea Return

SEOGWIPO, South Korea — FC Bayern Munich opened its Asian summer tour with a 2-1 victory over K League 1 side Jeju SK on Tuesday, needing goals from two of its young forwards to overcome a spirited home performance at Jeju World Cup Stadium.

Felipe Chávez and Bastian Assomo scored for the German champions, while Jeju SK found an equalizer of their own in between through forward Lee, briefly leveling the match before Bayern regained control and held on for the win in front of a packed, celebratory crowd.

How the match unfolded

Bayern controlled the tempo from the opening whistle, with Jeju setting up compactly and looking to hit the German side on the counter. The breakthrough came in the 11th minute, when Chávez reacted quickest to a scramble inside the penalty area and fired the ball home to give Bayern an early 1-0 lead.

Jeju SK responded just a few minutes later, drawing level in the 15th minute through Lee after testing Bayern's defense on the counterattack in the match's opening exchanges. The goal energized the home crowd and briefly threatened to derail Bayern's control of the match.

Bayern retook the lead before halftime, with Assomo restoring the German side's advantage in the 41st minute through a long-range strike from outside the penalty area. The goal sent Bayern into the break leading 2-1, despite having created several other chances throughout the first half that went unconverted.

The second half saw few clear-cut opportunities for either side, with Bayern continuing to dominate possession while Jeju's higher press occasionally forced mistakes from the visitors. Bayern made a series of substitutions as the match wore on, including bringing on Joshua Kimmich and Josip Stanišić, with Kimmich later setting up a header from Stanišić that narrowly cleared the crossbar. Despite the pressure, neither side found the net again, and the match ended 2-1 in Bayern's favor.

A homecoming moment for Kim Min-jae

The match carried extra significance in South Korea due to the presence of Kim Min-jae, the South Korean defender who signed with Bayern from Napoli, returning to his home country as one of the club's most prominent international stars. His appearance made him the most closely watched player on the pitch for the home crowd, adding an emotional dimension to what was otherwise a preseason exhibition without competitive stakes.

Bayern also fielded several other key figures as part of the squad making the trip to Asia, including Luis Díaz, Konrad Laimer and Stanišić, though a number of the club's World Cup participants remained back in Germany to recover from the physical and mental demands of a compressed international schedule earlier in the year.

Preparing for the new season

The friendly marked the first match of Bayern's preseason tour of Asia, organized as part of the club's preparations for the 2026-27 campaign under manager Vincent Kompany. Kompany has said he intends to use the tour's matches to increase his squad's competitive workload, experiment with tactical variations and give playing time to both younger players and recent signings ahead of the new season. Bayern's next stop on the tour will see the club face Aston Villa in Hong Kong.

For Jeju SK, the match offered a rare opportunity to test itself against one of European football's most decorated clubs, while also serving as a platform to raise the South Korean side's international visibility. The friendly carried no points or trophies, but both clubs entered describing the fixture as valuable preparation, with Bayern using it to gauge its competitive readiness and Jeju using it to measure itself against elite opposition.

Jeju SK, managed by Sergio Costa and competing in the top flight of South Korea's K League, entered the match off the back of a 3-3 draw against Incheon. The club had scored 11 goals across its previous five matches heading into the friendly, but had also conceded in nine of its last 10 games, a pattern that was reflected in Tuesday's result as Jeju's attack briefly troubled Bayern before the German side's superior overall quality proved decisive.

A one-sided history between the sides

On paper, Bayern entered as overwhelming favorites given the significant gap in squad depth, budget, individual quality and international experience between the two clubs. Pre-match analysis widely projected a comfortable Bayern victory, though Jeju's ability to find an equalizer and remain competitive for stretches of the match offered a respectable showing against vastly superior opposition.

The match also briefly paused for an injury to Jeju's Kim Jae-Woo, adding a short delay to proceedings, though the club did not immediately provide further details on the extent of the issue following the match.

With the win in hand, Bayern Munich will continue its Asian tour with a match against Aston Villa in Hong Kong as the club works through its preseason schedule ahead of the competitive campaign. Jeju SK, meanwhile, will return to K League 1 play, looking to build on both the attacking form and defensive lessons on display during Tuesday's high-profile exhibition against one of Europe's most successful clubs.

For fans in South Korea, the match offered a rare chance to see Kim Min-jae represent his new club on home soil, a moment that added significant local interest to what was, on the surface, simply another stop on a European giant's preseason tour through Asia.