Borussia Dortmund has the marathon professional of the Bundesliga. Daniel Svensson leads two league-wide statistics that are causing a stir.
“Daniel Düsentrieb,” “busy bee,” “a thoroughbred professional”: BVB coach Niko Kovac never runs out of terms to describe Daniel Svensson. From press conference to press conference, he finds new attributes to describe his “Duracell bunny,” the latest nickname for the Swedish player. With one-sixth of the season completed, the following statistic is no longer a coincidence across the league: Borussia Dortmund has a Scandinavian marathon man on the left side.
Svensson has not missed a minute of action for BVB this season, covering the most kilometers of any professional player. The Swede ran exactly 75 kilometers in the first six games. That’s an average of 12.5 kilometers per game – despite the double burden of Champions League matches. But that’s not all: he also leads the statistics for intensive runs (546) by a clear margin. He is followed by Mathias Pereira Lage with 527. It is no coincidence that the left-back recently scored two goals by running to the far post and converting a cross. Svensson scored the 1-0 against Mainz 05 and the 1-0 in the Champions League against Athletic Bilbao.
“The far post has to be closed down, that’s very important,” Kovac explained recently. The coach said: “If the ball can’t be converted at the near post, someone at the back has to close the door. That’s what he does. He’s such a strong runner, he doesn’t mind doing that ten times per half, but only getting the ball once. Daniel is a hard worker, someone who gives everything for the team. I’m delighted that he has developed so much in such a short time.“
The Swedish international, who faces Switzerland on Friday and Kosovo on Monday, says he feels ”at home” in Dortmund. And he can even cope with the nicknames. After his goal against Bilbao, he was asked about the comic book character Daniel Düsentrieb, who is called Oppfinnar-Jocke in Swedish. “Sounds good,” said the Swede, who is a fan of short answers. He prefers to cover long distances on the pitch.