Champions League: Blessing from England orchestrates Dortmund’s win over Chelsea (analysis)

Berlin (Germany), Feb 16 (IANS) Borussia Dortmund captain Jude Bellingham might have taken his coach’s statement as a humorous buddy-like comment.

The England international is the “oldest 19-year-old in the world”, Dortmund manager Edin Terzic for a reason said in advance of his team’s 1-0 win over star-peppered Premier League side Chelsea in the first leg of the last-16 duel of the Champions League.

Other predictions speak of Bellingham on his way to becoming one of England’s greatest in case he continues to develop at the known pace after he joined the German side at age 17, reports Xinhua.

As a fact, the former Birmingham youngster is the Black and Yellows’ only player addressing all requirements of an emerging superstar. Some in the UK speak of a blessing for England’s national team to have him around.

“The only thing we don’t know about him are his limits,” the Dortmund coach commented before calling the courted figure the team’s undisputed leader.

Media reports speak of interested clubs having to satisfy a price tag of over 100 million euros. All of Europe’s top sides are said to queue up for Dortmund’s diamond. Real, Liverpool and Manchester City are said to be only the tip of the iceberg.

As it was a piece of cake the youngster is orchestrating a young Dortmund squad and other talents are blooming in his wake.

Karim Adeyemi might be one of the examples, not only because the national league’s fastest scored the winning goal for Dortmund in a disputed encounter in front of the German Champion’s League-record crowd of nearly 82,000 fans in the BVB arena this Wednesday evening.

On top of that, Bellingham’s qualities as a robust fighter and leader seem to affect experienced forces such as Julian Brandt, who is performing at the highest level of his career.

As impressive as Bellingham’s contributions, it might be similarly remarkable how the youngster is dealing with the excitement around him.

Brandt called him “a special guy” as he doesn’t seem to lose countenance no matter how adventurous the reported offers might be.

Behind the scenes, Dortmund is preparing for his departure but has kept the flame of hope alive to convince Bellingham to stay a little bit longer than next summer.

“We have to consider market developments, but you can imagine we want to keep an outstanding player like him as long as possible,” sporting director Sebastian Kehl stated, adding only players of that class make titles possible.

For the second leg against Chelsea, played out on March 7, Bellingham will be around in the BVB shirt and helping to create a surprise as a pushing force.

“It’s always the question of how far we can push his limits,” coach Terzic said while caretaker Bellingham almost incidentally spoke of the victory as a team effort.

–IANS

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