Atletico's Lee Kang-in vs. Bayern's Kim Min-jae... Champions League 'Korean Derby' Set

A "Korean Derby" is set to take place on the stage determining Europe's top professional football club, featuring Lee Kang-in of Atletico Madrid (Spain) and Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich (Germany).

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) held the draw for the 2026–2027 UEFA Champions League (UCL) league phase in Monaco on the 28th (Korean time).

The 36 teams that advanced to the UCL main tournament were divided into four pots of nine teams each. Each team will play a total of eight matches, facing two opponents from each of Pots 1 through 4.

The teams finishing 1st to 8th in the league phase will advance directly to the Round of 16, while those ranked 9th to 24th will compete in playoffs for a spot in the Round of 16.

Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, both placed in Pot 1, will face each other in the league phase.

Atletico will face Munich (home), Liverpool (England, away), Manchester United (England, home), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands, away), Fenerbahce (Turkey, home), Bodo/Glimt (Norway, away), Viking (Norway, home), and Stuttgart (Germany, away).

Munich will face Arsenal (England, home), Atletico (away), Real Betis (Spain, home), Manchester United (away), Bodo/Glimt (home), Lille (France, away), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic, home), and Viking (away).

Having transferred to Atletico after leaving Paris Saint-Germain (PSG, France)—the defending champions who won back-to-back titles over the past two seasons—Lee Kang-in will face Munich, where Kim Min-jae plays, for the third consecutive season in the UCL.

Lee previously clashed with Munich in the league phase of the 2024–2025 season while playing for PSG.

At that time, Kim Min-jae played the full match and scored the winning goal to give Munich a 1–0 victory, while Lee Kang-in was brought on as a second-half substitute and played for 25 minutes.

PSG and Munich also met in the league phase of the 2025–2026 season, with Munich winning 2–1.

Kim Min-jae was substituted on in the second half, and Lee Kang-in was brought on in the first half.

Lee Kang-in assisted Joao Neves's consolation goal in the second half.

The two teams subsequently met again in the semifinals.

In the first leg, both Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae remained on the bench. In the second leg, Kim Min-jae was substituted in midway through the second half, but Lee Kang-in did not get playing time, preventing a "Korean Derby" from taking place.

PSG advanced to the final with a 6–5 aggregate score over Munich across the two legs and ultimately succeeded in defending their consecutive tournament titles.

Meanwhile, a total of four South Korean players will compete on the UCL main stage this season.

Hwang In-beom of FC Porto (Portugal) and Lee Han-beom of Club Brugge (Belgium), both assigned to Pot 2, will also grace the UCL pitches.

Porto will battle Manchester City (England, home), Liverpool (away), Eindhoven (home), Betis (away), Napoli (Italy, home), Feyenoord (Netherlands, away), Slavia Prague (home), and LASK (Austria, away).

Hwang In-beom will have to face his former club, Feyenoord, as an opponent.

Club Brugge will test its skills against Liverpool (home), Inter Milan (Italy, away), Aston Villa (England, home), Eindhoven (away), Bodo/Glimt (home), Napoli (away), RC Lens (France, home), and Stuttgart (away).

This season's UCL league phase is scheduled to kick off on September 9.

Detailed match schedules will be announced at a later date.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.