sport news Borussia Dortmund title would beat ANYTHING Jude Bellingham does at Real Madrid trends now

For a long time this year, Borussia Dortmund's last game of the season, at home against Mainz on Saturday, looked like being special because it would be Jude Bellingham's farewell.

The football gods had other ideas and now it looks set to be special for an altogether more important reason — Dortmund are poised to win the Bundesliga.

Almost nobody believed Bayern would stumble in the race to the line. Thomas Tuchel was seen as a safe pair of hands after Julian Nagelsmann had been sacked following a mid-March defeat at Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen.

And when Bayern went 3-0 up in 23 minutes against Dortmund in Tuchel's first game in charge, the writing was on the Westfalenstadion's famous Yellow Wall: It's going to be them again — for the 11th straight season.

Now with 90 minutes left to play, Dortmund just need to 'win again', in the words of their sporting director, Sebastian Kehl. Mainz have won just two of their past 10, but those victories came against Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig so they have shown themselves capable of finding another level against better teams.

There will be no complacency from Dortmund, though, and if they win they do not even have to check the score in Bayern's game at Cologne. They might even be boosted by the return of Bellingham. The England international missed last week's trip to Augsburg with a knee problem but should play some part on Saturday.

The 19-year-old, with eight goals from midfield, has been one of the stars of this potentially title-winning season regardless of the part he plays on the last day, but there are so many other stories behind a remarkable campaign.

Sebastien Haller will win the league just a year after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was signed last summer from Ajax along with Karim Adeyemi as the club did their best to wisely reinvest the money they got from Manchester City for Erling Haaland. 

Replacing the Norwegian was always going to be a two-man job and because of Haller's health problems he missed the first half of the season.

Adeyemi has weighed in with nine goals in 19 starts but it has been the nine in 14 starts for Haller since he returned post-World Cup break that have really pushed Dortmund over the line.

Then there is head coach Edin Terzic, who is only 40 and grew up watching Dortmund as a fan. And his sporting director Kehl, who is only three years older and won the title three times with Dortmund as a player.

This is a young project that will, in part, be broken up in the summer by Bellingham's exit.

Real Madrid have had to wait for the Bundesliga season to end before closing their negotiations for a player who came through Birmingham City's youth sides. They have told the German club they want to pay no more than €100m (£87m).

Dortmund's valuation is closer to €140m (£122m) but the difference will be carved up in the form of add-ons and bonuses

read more from dailymail.....