Axel Witsel

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Axel Witsel
ENG-BEL (16) .jpg
Axel Witsel at the 2018 World Cup
Personnel
Surname Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel
birthday January 12, 1989
place of birth Liege ,  Belgium
size 186 cm
position Central midfield
Juniors
Years station
1995-1997 RRC Vottem
1997-1999 CS Visé
1999-2006 Standard Liege
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2006-2011 Standard Liege 148 (33)
2011–2012 Benfica Lisbon 31 0(1)
2012-2017 Zenit Saint Petersburg 122 (16)
2017-2018 Tianjin Quanjian 36 0(5)
2018– Borussia Dortmund 61 0(8)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
2004 Belgium U15 1 0(0)
2005 Belgium U16 2 0(0)
2005-2006 Belgium U17 19 0(0)
2006-2007 Belgium U18 5 0(0)
2006 Belgium U19 3 0(0)
2007-2009 Belgium U21 10 0(0)
2008– Belgium 105 0(9)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: end of season 2019/20

2 As of November 16, 2019

Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel (born January 12, 1989 in Liège ) is a Belgian football player . He is under contract with Borussia Dortmund and is active for the Belgian national team .

Career

societies

Childhood, youth and beginnings in Liège

Axel Witsel grew up in Vottem at the gates of Liège and began playing football in the youth of the RRC Vottem and later at CS Visé . He soon moved to the largest club in his hometown, Standard Liège . Witsel made his professional debut in the Jupiler Pro League against FC Brussels on September 17, 2006 when he came on for Steven Defour in the 89th minute . In the same year he lost with Liège in the final of the Belgian Cup to Club Bruges . In the 2007/08 season he formed the midfield of Liège with Steven Defour and Marouane Fellaini and became Belgian champions for the first time. Furthermore, he was awarded the Golden Shoe as the best player in the Belgian league and was voted Belgian junior footballer of the year. At the beginning of the 2008/09 season he also won the Belgian Supercup with Standard and subsequently defended the championship title - despite Fellaini's departure to Everton . Witsel converted the decisive penalty in the decider against RSC Anderlecht to a 1-0 victory. In the same meeting on 30 August 2009, he collapsed during the game his opponent Marcin Wasilewski with a challenge, the right tibia and fibula . He was then suspended from the Belgian association for eight games and fined. In the further course of the season he ended up with Standard Liège in the middle of the table and did not qualify as the reigning champions for the UEFA Europa League . The 2010/11 season was his last at Standard Liège; he was with the team level on points behind KRC Genk runner-up. A few days later he won the Belgian Cup in the final against KVC Westerlo at the end of the season .

Benfica Lisbon (2011-2012)

For the 2011/12 season Witsel moved to Portugal to Benfica Lisbon , where he signed a five-year contract. In Portugal he was quickly a member of the team and scored his first league goal against Sporting Braga . At the end of the season, the team was runner-up and advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals, in which they failed at the eventual winner, Chelsea . Nevertheless, at the end of the season they won the Taça da Liga , the Portuguese League Cup .

Zenit St. Petersburg (2012-2017)

Witsel on the ball for Zenit

On September 3, 2012 Witsel moved to the Russian master Zenit Saint Petersburg , where his compatriot Nicolas Lombaerts already played. He signed a five-year contract and got the shirt number 28. This transfer cost the club around 40 million euros. With Zenit he took part in the group stage of the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League , in which he appeared in five games. Zenit only finished third behind FC Málaga and AC Milan, but was then allowed to play in the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League. There they prevailed after a 2-0 home win and a 1-3 away defeat due to the away goals rule against Liverpool . In the round of 16 they lost 2-0 at FC Basel , but in the second leg his goal to win 1-0 was not enough to reach the quarter-finals. In its first championship season in Russia, Zenit could not defend the title that went to PFK CSKA Moscow . As runner-up, however, Zenit secured participation in qualifying for the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League . Here Zenit prevailed 1-0 and 5-0 against the Danish runner-up FC Nordsjælland . In the playoffs, FC Paços de Ferreira , third in the Portuguese league, was eliminated 4-1 and 4-2. In the group stage, Zenit could only win one game, but still finished second behind Atlético Madrid . The end came in the round of 16 against the German runner-up and last year's finalists Borussia Dortmund : after a 2-4 home defeat with early goals conceded in the 4th and 5th minute, the second leg was won 2-1 in Dortmund, but that was not enough . Witsel was only not used in the away game against FC Porto in the group stage. His second championship season in Russia ended like the first with the runner-up and participation in qualifying for the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League . Here the Cypriot runner-up AEL Limassol was cleared out of the way after a 0-1 away defeat by a 3-0 home game , although Witsel was not used in the second leg. In the playoffs it went against his ex-club Standard Liège. Here he was missing in the first leg in Liège, which was won 1-0, but was used in the 3-0 second leg. Zenit was thus back in the group stage, which was only finished third behind AS Monaco and Bayer 04 Leverkusen . In the 2-0 in the first group game against the later group bottom Benfica Lisbon he could also be entered in the list of goalscorers. The Russians were allowed to play third in the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League, where they beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 and 3-0 . In the last sixteen they then won the home game against FC Turin 2-0, where he scored the first goal, so they could cope with the 0-1 away defeat. The end came in the quarter-finals against defending champion Sevilla FC , who was also able to successfully defend his title. In the first leg in Spain they even took a 1-0 lead and only conceded the goal to 1: 2 in the 87th minute. In the second leg they fell behind after just 6 minutes due to a converted penalty, but were able to turn the game around in the second half and take a 2-1 lead, but then conceded the equalizer five minutes before the end Extension prevented. Things went better in the Premjer-Liga 2014/15 , which Zenit finished with the fourth league title. Zenit was thus directly qualified for the group stage of the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League .

The 2015/16 season began for Witsel with the victory in the Russian Supercup , in which he gave the template for the 1-1 equalizing goal against Lokomotiv Moscow in the 83rd minute , with which Zenit saved himself in goalless overtime and then won the penalty shoot-out , in which he converted the second penalty for Zenit.

In the first group game of the Champions League at Valencia CF, Witsel scored the goal of the 3-2 win and thus initiated a successful group stage. Because with a total of five wins and only one defeat against KAA Gent on the last match day - before which group victory was already certain - and Witsel was banned after the third yellow card , Zenit reached the round of 16, where they, however, with 0: 1 and 1: 2 lost to Benfica. In the championship this time, Zenit not only had to give way to CSKA, but also to FK Rostov and is thus only qualified for the group stage of the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League as third . However, he was able to win the cup with Zenit by beating ZSKA 4-1 in the final. Before the 2016/17 season, Witsel almost switched to Juventus Turin . Zenit agreed a few minutes before the transfer window closed, but there was no longer enough time to submit the required documents on time.

Tianjin Quanjian (2017-2018)

On January 3, 2017, Witsel left St. Petersburg after four and a half years and joined the Chinese first division team Tianjin Quanjian . According to media reports, he should have signed a three-year contract that should bring him the equivalent of 60 million euros.

Borussia Dortmund (since 2018)

At the beginning of August 2018, Witsel moved to the German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund , where he signed a contract that was valid until June 2022. In his debut on August 20, 2018 in the DFB-Pokal game against SpVgg Greuther Fürth , he equalized in stoppage time; BVB won the game 2-1 after extra time and moved into the second round of the cup. On August 26, 2018, the midfielder made his debut for BVB in the Bundesliga in the home game against RB Leipzig - he scored the 3-1 with an overhead kick (final score 4-1). In his first appearances for BVB, Witsel harmonized with another newcomer, Thomas Delaney, on the “ Doppelsechs ” . With only one missed competitive game, the Belgian quickly became an important support for the team thanks to his overview and the calmness in the game. In August 2019, Witsel won his first title with the club when the double winner of the previous season, FC Bayern Munich , was defeated 2-0 in the DFL Supercup . Due to a facial injury sustained at home, he missed the last three game days of the first half of the 2019/20 season and played with a protective mask for some time after his return. The Belgian was again runner-up with BVB and had the best rate in the league in this category with 94.1% of passes, which meant that he beat Nico Elvedi , Sven Bender and Julian Baumgartlinger , for example .

National team

Witsel in the jersey of the national team

Witsel, whose father comes from the French island of Martinique and whose mother is Belgian, went through various Belgian youth national teams. In October 2005 he took part with the U17s in the first qualifying round for the European Championship 2006 in Belgium , which the Belgian juniors won. The Belgians also won the mini-tournament of the second qualifying round, which took place in Poland in March 2006 , and thus qualified for the finals. At the finals in Luxembourg in May 2006 , the Belgians only scored one point against Serbia and Montenegro , but lost to Germany and the Czech Republic . The squad also included Toby Alderweireld , who, like Witsel, would become one of the pillars of the senior national team over the next few years. In October 2006 he took part with the U19 team in the first qualifying round for the 2017 European Championships , which took place in Romania . The Belgians qualified third in the mini-tournament but did not qualify for the second qualifying round.

With the U21 national team he took part in the European Championship in the Netherlands in 2007 and failed there in the semi-finals in the selection of Serbia . The Belgian squad also included Marouane Fellaini , Nicolas Lombaerts , Kevin Mirallas , Thomas Vermaelen and Jan Vertonghen , with whom he was to play in the senior national team over the next few years. From September the Belgians made a new attempt in qualifying for the U21 European Championship 2009 , but failed. Witsel also took part in three qualifying games for the European Championship 2011 , in which the Belgians missed the playoffs as only eighth-best group runner-up with a 2-2 in the last game in Slovenia. By then Witsel was already a national team player.

He made his first appearance in the senior national team on March 26, 2008 and even scored a goal in a friendly against Morocco on his debut . He then immediately belonged to the team and came under national coach René Vandereycken to eight appearances in the next ten games, including six games in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup . But the Belgians only won three games. After six games, national coach René Vandereycken was dismissed and replaced by Franky Vercauteren , under which Witsel was no longer used. When Vercauteren had been replaced by Dick Advocaat before the last game , Witsel had to wait for more appearances. Only in the third and fourth game under Advocaat he was considered again. After Advocaat had announced his resignation on April 15, 2010, he got it to do with his third national coach Georges Leekens , who did not consider him in his first game. From the second game under Leekens he was a regular player and was used 62 times in 68 games. But also under Leekens the qualification for the EM 2012 failed , in which Witsel was used in all games. The Belgians only won both games against the selections of Kazakhstan and once against Azerbaijan and Austria , with Witsel scoring both goals against Austria . In the end, they finished third behind the selection of Germany and Turkey . On May 13, 2012 Leekens announced his resignation and Witsel got Marc Wilmots as the fourth national coach. Wilmots then qualified for the 2014 World Cup . At the World Cup, Witsel was only not used in the last group game against the selection of South Korea , when after the already established qualification for the round of 16, some regular players were spared who, like him, had a yellow card . In the 2-1 win nV in the round of 16 against the United States and in the quarter-finals against Argentina , which was already decided by a goal in the eighth minute to the disadvantage of the Belgians, he then played again over 90 minutes .

In the qualification for the Euro 2016 , which started after the World Cup, it was not included in the first two games, but was used in the remaining qualifying games and all other games. Thanks to their good results, the Belgians topped the FIFA world rankings for the first time in November 2015 . He was then included in Belgium's squad for the 2016 European Championship in France, was part of the starting XI in all games and did not miss a minute. He scored his first European Championship goal with the goal to make it 2-0 in the 3-0 in the second group game against the selection of Ireland . After the 1: 3 defeat in the quarter-finals against Wales' selection , he was eliminated with his team.

Witsel was also in the squad at the 2018 World Cup in Russia . He completed six out of seven possible missions, but could not score a goal. With a 2-0 win over England , Belgium managed to win third place, which was the best result at a World Cup so far.

In the UEFA Nations League game against Iceland on November 15, 2018, the midfielder made his 100th international appearance for Belgium.

successes

societies

National team

Awards

Style of play

Witsel is mainly used as a " six " in midfield, at Borussia Dortmund he often forms a "double six" with his teammate Thomas Delaney . The Belgian is known for his calm and level-headed style of play, for his good overview and a high pass rate. Especially in the national team as well as in Dortmund he proves his qualities in the support of the defensive as well as a "handlebar" in the offensive play structure.

Others

Witsel's mother is Belgian, his father was born in France on the Caribbean island of Martinique . Witsel has been married since June 2015 and has two children.

Web links

Commons : Axel Witsel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Interview with Axel Witsel in the WAZ from October 20, 2018
  2. ↑ a b Kristof Terreur: He is the boss. (No longer available online.) In: 11 Freunde. June 17, 2014, archived from the original ; Retrieved July 5, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Jovanovic Profvoetballer van het Jaar , demorgen.be. July 1, 2012. 
  4. ↑ Standard Liège defends title , kicker.de . July 1, 2012. 
  5. ↑ shocking foul Anderlecht defender seriously injured , www.nzz.ch . July 1, 2012. 
  6. ^ Witsel banned for eight games , uefa.com . July 1, 2012. 
  7. ↑ Genk is Belgian champion , kicker.de. July 1, 2012. 
  8. ↑ Axel Witsel tekent voor vijf jaar bij Benfica , knack.be. July 1, 2012. 
  9. ↑ Benfica 2 1 Sp. Braga , desporto.publico.pt. July 1, 2012. 
  10. ↑ Ao vivo: Benfica volta a conquistar Taça da Liga , sapo.pt. July 1, 2012. 
  11. ↑ Axel Witsel is coming to St. Petersburg! (English) , en.fc-zenit.ru of September 4, 2012
  12. ↑ Witsel no Zenit por cinco anos rende 40 milhões ao Benfica (Portuguese)
  13. ↑ zenith vs. Basel 1 - 0
  14. ↑ zenith vs. Borussia Dortmund 2-4
  15. ↑ Benfica Lisbon vs. Zenith 0 - 2
  16. ↑ Seville vs. Zenith 2 - 1
  17. ↑ zenith vs. Seville 2-2
  18. ↑ Зенит Санкт-Петербург - Локомотив
  19. ↑ Valencia vs. Zenith 2 - 3
  20. ↑ CSKA Moscow vs. Zenith 1 - 4
  21. ↑ spiegel.de
  22. ↑ Zenit confirms Witsel's departure to China. In: transfermarkt.de . January 3, 2017, accessed August 6, 2018 .
  23. ↑ Axel Witsel arrived at the BVB training camp. In: Borussia Dortmund . August 6, 2018, accessed August 6, 2018 .
  24. ↑ Witsel: Game permit is there bvb.dem accessed on August 21, 2018
  25. ↑ Axel Witsel is already the head of the team in his competitive debut . In: RN . ( ruhrnachrichten.de [accessed on 23 August 2018]).
  26. ↑ Match report Borussia Dortmund - RB Leipzig , weltfussball.de, accessed on August 27, 2018
  27. ↑ Dortmund wins Supercup against Bayern Munich , spiegel.de, accessed on August 3, 2019
  28. ↑ Most passable players in the Bundesliga: Witsel with the best odds - 4 BVB professionals in the top 5 , transfermarkt.de, accessed on August 17, 2020
  29. ↑ European U-17 Championship 2006
  30. ↑ European U-19 Championship 2007
  31. ↑ Austria 0-2 Belgium , KBVB. March 25, 2011. 
  32. ↑ FIFA World Ranking: Belgium is the new number 1
  33. ↑ Outre-Mer 1ère : Belgique-Algérie: connaissez-vous Axel Witsel, le "Martiniquais Belge"?
  34. ↑ BVB: This is how Axel Witsel ticks privately , bild.de. 7th August 2018. 
predecessor Office successor
Steven Defour Belgium's Footballer of the Year
2008 		Milan Jovanović
personal data
SURNAME Witsel, Axel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Witsel, Axel Thomas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Liege , Belgium