Bundesliga title ‘would mean the world’ to Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham as Bayern Munich falter

BERLIN – Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham said winning the Bundesliga would “mean the world” after his side went top of the table thanks to a 4-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

Bayern Munich’s 3-1 loss at Mainz earlier on meant Dortmund knew they could move above the Bavarian side with a victory against Frankfurt, with five league matches remaining in the season.

Bellingham, 19, scored Dortmund’s first goal in the dominant victory, with Donyell Malen adding two and veteran Mats Hummels another.

The England midfielder has won a German Cup with Dortmund since arriving from Birmingham in 2020, aged 17.

“To be honest, it would mean everything. It would mean the world to me,” Bellingham told German TV after the game.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself and talk about it too much, to end up feeling like I’ve already won it, as there’re five really tough games to come.

“But it would be massive. I would love more than anything to win the league with this club, after everything they have given me. I’ll give absolutely everything to try and make that happen.”

Dortmund last clinched the title under Jurgen Klopp in 2011-12, with Bayern winning the title every season after that.

Despite a contract which runs until 2025, the sought-after Bellingham has been heavily linked with a move in the summer, with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City among the suitors.

Bellingham has 11 goals and seven assists in 39 games in all competitions this season.

For Frankfurt, last year’s Europa League winners, it was their eighth league game without a win and they dropped to ninth, out of contention for a European spot.

“We are satisfied with the performance and the result but it is just one, a good one but just one step we took today,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. “Now there are exactly five more steps.

“Today’s energy is what we need to take the next five steps. We still have a lot of work in front of us to take those next five steps as successfully as today.”

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel and vice-captain Thomas Muller, meanwhile, worried about the team’s own “energy” levels.

With Bayern in control and leading 1-0 at half-time after Sadio Mane’s first goal since October, the visitors conceded three goals in 14 minutes via Ludovic Ajorque, Leandro Barreiro and Aaron Caricol.

Muller told Sky Deutschland: “We just didn’t have the energy to come back. We encountered resistance and then got knocked out. It’s a brutal disappointment, a huge discrepancy between expectation and reality.”

Tuchel, who has won just two of his seven matches since replacing Julian Nagelsmann, added: “We look like a team that have already played 80 games this season. We’re completely drained...

“We don’t feel any energy any more. Too much has happened to this team and we struggle to bounce back when things don’t go our way.” AFP