sport news PETE JENSON: Beat Bayern and Jude Bellingham could leave Dortmund a Bundesliga ... trends now
When Jude Bellingham heads to the Premier League this summer - that's where Real Madrid are starting to fear he'll end up - he could do so having already won a league title.
If Borussia Dortmund win Europe's game of the weekend against Bayern Munich on Saturday evening, and ruin Thomas Tuchel's debut in the process, they'll be four points clear with eight games left.
It sounds easy when you say it quickly but the arrival of the former Chelsea manager at Bayern makes Dortmund's visit to the Allianz Arena that bit more daunting.
They have had to go on an incredible run to reach the summit taking 28 points from a possible 30 since the World Cup. But their surge provoked Bayern to sack Julian Nagelsmann last week.
'We had to react,' said Bayern's Sporting Director Hasan Salihamidzic. And when asked about the new man's famed intensity he added: 'We let Julian be Julian, now we will let Thomas Tuchel be Thomas Tuchel.'
Not all the players at Bayern like the sound of that. 'He had not lost the dressing room,' said Joshua Kimmich of Nagelsmann. And Leon Goretzka also defended the out-going coach.
Jude Bellingham could leave Borussia Dortmund this summer having guided them to the title
Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid fear they might miss out on the English superstar this summer
Dortmund will hope that division takes something away from a Tuchel-sized new-manager bounce. They travel to the Allianz Arena not having beaten Bayern since 2014. They need to channel some Jurgen Klopp circa 2011, 2012 energy - when they won the Bundesliga under him two years running, they won this fixture both seasons.
The incentive is huge because a four-point game over a Bayern team preoccupied by a Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City might be enough to see them over the line.
'We are not playing Tuchel,' said Dortmund's Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl, also pointing out that Bayern's new coach only had two days with the full squad because of the international break.
If Bellingham does win the Bundesliga this season he will become the youngest Englishman to win one of Europe's major leagues.
Owen Hargreaves had already turned 20 when he won it with Bayern in 2001. Bellingham will not be 20 until June.
Bellingham is set to face new Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel in his first match in charge
Owen Hargreaves had already turned 20 when he won the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich
Laurie Cunningham was 24 in 1980 when he won La Liga with Real Madrid. Jimmy Greaves was 22 and had already left Milan and headed back to London when he won a Serie A medal in 1962. Fikayo Tomori was 23 last year when he won Serie A with Milan. Most English players abroad have gone at their peak or even at the end of their careers.
It will further vindicate his bold move from Birmingham and be the perfect way to sign off.
Can we be sure he'll head to England and not Spain?
The Spanish club have been making plenty of noises about how his transfer fee could rise as high as 140m euros - a price that would leave them unable to
