Joshua Kimmich, Mario Götze and top 5 Bundesliga players who covered the most ground in 2022/23
Stamina may be Joshua Kimmich and Mario Götze’s middle name, but they were not the only endurance experts who simply did not stop running this season. bundesliga.com looks at the five players who went further than anybody else this season…
1) Ellyes Skhiri (Cologne, 244.6 miles/393.6km)
With an average of 7.7 miles/12.4km per game, Cologne's running man Ellyes Skhiri beat his Bundesliga rivals by a country mile when it came to covering the most distance – a whopping 244.6 miles (393.6km) all told. The Tunisian combined his ground coverage with an accurate pass, with 90 percent of all his attempts finding their man – the highest proportion for a Cologne player. He also scored more goals than he had in a single season, with seven to his name – all coming in the new calendar year, from 17 shots, after drawing blanks with his first 15 shots of the season before the 2022 World Cup.
2) Lucas Tousart (Hertha Berlin, 241.3 miles/388.3km)
Hertha may have been relegated, but Lucas Tousart certainly did all he could to prevent it. He was fielded 33 times – more than any other Hertha player this season – and could not be faulted for effort. Only Dodi Lukebakio scored more than his five goals, which was a new personal single-season best for the Frenchman, after scoring three in 2020/21 and 2021/22 combined.
3) Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich, 239.7 miles/385.7km)
The man who scored the first goal of the season hardly stopped running from the start of the campaign to the end. Alongside his average 7.6 miles (12.3 km) per game, Kimmich had the most spells of possession (101 per 90 minutes) of any player in the Bundesliga all season, underlining his role as Bayern’s go-to man across every blade of grass.
Watch: Joshua Kimmich, the pass master
4) Mario Götze (Eintracht Frankfurt, 227.4 miles/365.9km)
Götze made up for lost ground on his return to the Bundesliga after two seasons in the Netherlands, covering more ground than any other Frankfurt player. He covered an average of 7.5 miles (12km) per 90 minutes, including a league-high 3,034 intensive runs.
Watch: Mario Götze, where it all began
5) Waldemar Anton (VfB Stuttgart, 222.3 miles/357.8km)
The Stuttgart defender was the Swabians’ only player to go the full distance, in terms of featuring in all 34 Bundesliga regular-season fixtures. In addition to covering so much ground, he filled a variety of positions too – every single one across the back four, in fact. He also won 56 percent of his tackles, which – considering the distances he covered – was a common occurrence.
Top 5s 2022/23
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