The alarming self-disclosure of Jude Bellingham

In England they sometimes don't even know what to do with all their luck. On Tuesday evening it accumulated again. Jude Bellingham had scored for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League to make it 1-1 against Sevilla FC, and on the island they were happy that Bellingham is in such impressive form. With a view to the World Cup in Qatar, which begins in November, this is a circumstance that British football experts could not overestimate. Media cheering rang out.

Incidentally, Bellingham had also surpassed an old English record set by Wayne Rooney. With his goal in the 1-1 draw against Sevilla, the 19-year-old attacker now has more Champions League goals under his belt than any English teenager before him in a single season. The goal against the Spaniards was his fourth of this Champions League season. He has scored in every group game in Dortmund so far. Bellingham overtook ex-England international Rooney, who scored three goals as a teenager in 2004/2005.

But that has a price. A high one, Bellingham made it public. It made you think - and the insight was also alarming in a way. Because Bellingham is apparently reaching his breaking point, the threshold of what is feasible.

“For me personally, the stress is taking its toll. I didn't feel good before the game against Sevilla. I was very, very tired after the game," he said. Which is not surprising, since Bellingham played in every BVB game from beginning to end: Bundesliga (nine games/810 minutes), Champions League (four games/360 minutes), DFB-Pokal (one game/90 minutes). No Borussia player comes close to playing as many minutes. In addition, there is the burden of international matches for the English national team, where he always has to hold out for a similar amount of time.

To make matters worse, the winter date of the World Cup means that clubs like Dortmund and indispensable exceptional players like Bellingham have to play in the European Cup on a weekly basis, something that football has never seen before with such intensity. "It's a freak season," Bellingham said, "at some point you're not mentally there with your senses sharpened like you were in the previous game."

The dilemma for him, however, is that he obviously doesn't want to slow himself down. "It's not my way of saying that I want to sit out," he said. "I want to help the team. Otherwise I feel useless.”

Bellingham reported that it was difficult for him to find his rhythm again, especially after a top game like the one against FC Bayern last weekend, "because it took a lot of physical and mental strength".

But after the top game it should be before the top game for him: Dortmund will be visiting league leaders Union Berlin on Sunday (5.30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker) and it will appear to be a difficult piece of work, especially for the offensive forces. Because the Berliners are hard to crack. Union only conceded six goals, no other team has been overcome so rarely this season. That is also half as many goals conceded as Borussia Dortmund had to accept. Union also allowed the fewest big chances, there were only five, while Dortmund had nine. Bellingham, that's to be expected, will have to push his limits again.