Mattias Svanberg started the season strongly and wants to establish himself in the top third of the table with VfL Wolfsburg. He has to defeat a good friend in Dortmund on Saturday (3:30 p.m., LIVE! on kicker) – there will be a reunion with Felix Nmecha.
Under scrutiny with Wolfsburg in Dortmund: Mattias Svanberg. IMAGO/Christian Schroedter
Things are going well in terms of sport, and things couldn’t be looking better for Mattias Svanberg in his private life at the moment. His girlfriend gave birth to her healthy daughter Ellie, and the baby celebrated its Wolfsburg stadium debut against Union Berlin at the weekend. The Swede reports that seeing his two wives in the stands before kick-off “gave me an extra dose of energy and motivation.” And after the 2-1 win, he happily states: “My daughter is still undefeated…”
Whether that is still the case on Saturday can be doubted given VfL Wolfsburg’s statistics at Borussia Dortmund. The results of the last two away games at Signal-Iduna-Park alone read more like tennis than football. The 1:6 in April 2022 – Svanberg wasn’t there yet – was followed by a 0:6 last season. “We want to win the third set in Dortmund,” says the Swede with a laugh, “if it’s a best-of-five game, we can still turn it around.”
The focus of interest on Saturday will likely be one of Svanberg’s friends: Felix Nmecha, who was the 24-year-old’s teammate and midfield competitor last season, switched sides for 30 million euros in the summer. Now Svanberg is looking forward to the reunion: “Felix is a very good friend of mine, I watch his games whenever I can.” They also last saw each other when Nmecha was in Wolfsburg with the national team.
Svanberg claims a leading role
The fact that the loss of the 22-year-old from the nine-point starter VfL has not been so serious so far is also due to Svanberg, who started the season strongly. He has already recorded two assists and was on the field in 342 of a possible 360 minutes of playing time. Svanberg always plays so far, “of course I like it.” And also corresponds to his wish to take on even more responsibility in his second season in Wolfsburg. “I want to play a big and important role in this team,” emphasizes the national player, “on and off the pitch.” He is assured of support from the stands anyway.
2023-09-19 14:33:45
#Svanberg #win #set #Dortmund
