Jude Bellingham: “You need to live it instead of just dreaming about it”

Let’s remember the late equaliser against Bayern in the first half of the season. In the end it felt probably like a victory. So much enthusiasm, so much joy. How often do you review those scenes? 
“You always try and enjoy moments while you're in them, but it's really difficult in football because you've got to move on so quickly. So, when you get the chance to watch it again, I just think, what was I doing in that moment? And honestly, I just completely lost myself. I can't remember what I was doing. I was just running around, going to Tony. You just lose yourself in the emotion. I grabbed a camera, and you can see that my eyes are nearly watering from the effort we put in and the feeling of relief that we haven't lost the game. But we didn't win that game, though. And that's always the thing that bugs me. Imagine if we could win a game like that and the games where we go down and we don't come back and we end up losing. I think that's a perfect example, look at the celebration and look how much it would mean to us if – when we got into tough situations – we more often reacted like that. That’s the motivation.”

Do you fall asleep after those games, or do you lie in bed and think it all through again and again?  
“To be honest, I don't sleep well after any games. I don't really sleep great in the week even. You put so much pressure on yourself to fall asleep sometimes that you can't. Obviously, we're talking after games, although I do find it really difficult, because your mind just never stops racing about. You have highs and you think, oh, that was brilliant. But then there was a game against Stuttgart, for example, where we won 5-0 at home. I scored two and I thought I should have scored a third. And honestly, I was in bed, and I was watching. I got my clips sent to me and I had a look at the scene where I could have taken one more run and had a better angle for a shot. And I just thought, why did I not do that? It just bugs you to the point where you overthink it and then at some point you just switch off. You don't even remember falling asleep and you wake up in the morning. But it's really weird. You put so much into the game physically and emotionally that when it's over, it's hard to have that cool down of adrenaline because it's just still pumping through you. And you're still thinking about everything that could've happened.” 

What's worse: Thinking about those situations where it could have gone even better or the bad situations in a poor game?
“By far the bad ones. I think what I could have done more. Always. And it's tough because you hammer yourself and you put yourself in the worst moods just thinking like that. But I think everyone has to have that sense of reflection at some point. You can't just play football or live life seeing things that don't go well saying, next week it will be all fine. In the industry that we're in the last week affects the next week and the week after that and obviously the table. And then that affects the second leg of the season and the end of the season, of course. It's hard not to get in that mode like, oh, I could have done more, I could have done more. But at a certain stage, I'll turn how I could have done more into what I'm going to do more in the next game. And I think it's just finding that switch at the right time that helps you prepare for the next game.” 

„The cup is beautiful“

Let’s look back to the Cup final in Berlin 2021. 
“I just couldn't stop looking at the cup, it's beautiful. It's heavy. I couldn't believe we won it, though. It's my first year and I cannot believe I've come to a club like Dortmund and added to the history of the club. It's such a big club. They've done so much before, and they will continue to do so. But I was involved in that. And to be honest, the feeling I got from that was I've got to do this again.”

At least some part of the reason why you chose to come to a club like Dortmund must have been to be able to win titles.  
“100%. I think there's always clubs where the success feels a bit different, because the fans are so close with the team and because the city's so connected by football. It just means more. A win like that means so much to them, it just naturally means so much to you because you become a Dortmund fan. You become a ‘Dortmunder Junge’. You become part of the club in that sense. I really want to try and recreate that feeling this year.”

It was a poor time to win such a title because there were no fans in the stadium. Just imagine what it would have felt like with 70,000 in Berlin, probably half a million on the streets when you came back. 
“It's a bit depressing. You've kind of ruined the whole thing for me now.” 

It's still special, but I can tell you because I experienced that with fans, and you just mentioned how important it is for the fans. 
“Yeah, definitely. Because you get the feedback from social media when you see the videos of the fans. There were these flares as we were going back to Brackel. You think, wow, they must be buzzing. But then, if you were to see it in person and go back to Borsigplatz and have the celebration, it would have just meant so much more. And that's something that I want to create again this year.”  

In February we play against Bochum, it's our next-door neighbour. It's going to be floodlights. There's going to be a sold-out stadium. How much do you already fancy these kind of cup situations, these knockout games where it's all or nothing actually? 
“Massively. I've always said to you, I just love playing big games, those important games. You know, even Hannover. It got difficult. We were 1-0 up, but not playing so well. I'm pretty sure they would have got back into the game had we played at the same level. And then to come on and score that goal to help us go through, those moments where you feel like you've really helped the team in such big moments or such important games, like a knock-out game, feels so huge. And I know the team's got more than enough to deliver again against Bochum, but it won't be an easy game. We've got to go there with the right attitude, the right mentality, and show the right side of ourselves. We've got to play like we know what it means to the fans in terms of the competition and what it will do for them if we could win it. I think that would be the biggest compliment to them and give us the best chance of going through.” 

And the winner is just two games away from the final. 
“Exactly. So, you never know what can happen. You can start dreaming after that one, I think.” 

Let’s move on from the DFB Cup and head towards the Champions League. You’ve scored a nice header in Manchester.
“It was just anticipation really. I thought I know where the ball is going to go. And honestly, I was surprised it got that far to me. When Marco strikes the ball, it got that little bit of spin on it and that creates a bit more pace. So, I knew all I had to do was just get a touch and I didn’t have to direct it because the keeper was already out. That was a really nice moment. Those games in the Champions League when the anthem comes on and it's late, just feel like big games. They feel like massive games to the club and to the fans and to deliver in that games against Chelsea in the next round would be huge for us.”

Do you have to pinch yourself? You go out there, hear the anthem, play those kinds of games and even score against the best team in Europe probably. 
“It’s what I want to do. I've always dreamed of being in those moments. So why would it let them pass me by? I've dreamed of playing in those games and now I don’t think, Oh, it's a bit too big for me or I'd like someone else to do it. I'm sure everyone else in that team is capable of scoring a goal like that. But still, you need to enjoy the moment. You need to live it instead of just dreaming about it.”  

Do you have that famous celebration with you in front of the fans framed in your living room? 
“No. I want to get a picture or something like that, because I've got a couple of celebrations when I was at Birmingham and now England as well.”

Where does this moment rank so far in your career? 
“That was a nice one, but we lost the game. So not too high, I'd say. I'll always put my first Birmingham goal on one, probably the DFB Pokal on two. I'd say it's really close.”

What about that left against Bielefeld?
“That dribble, that was the best goal. But in terms of meaning the best one I've done at Dortmund was Sevilla away. I was Captain for the first time in the Champions League, scored, set up Rapha, got Man of the Match, my mum was there. It felt like the perfect evening to be fair.”

What will be the key to cracking Chelsea in the Champions League now? 
“It’s knowing all the weapons that they have, but also understanding that we can cause problems as well. They're going for a bit of a rough patch at the minute, and they've got a lot of injuries. But you have to be an idiot to write off a team like Chelsea with the quality they have. I'm sure by the time we play them, they'll have players back in the squad. It's about not always taking things as they are and just fighting the battle that you actually come against. I'm really looking forward to first our game in Dortmund and then going back to England. So hopefully we'll win the tie.”

„Sevilla felt like the perfect evening“

We're in Spain now. It's usually sunny during the day. It's about 19 degrees, good conditions. So that at least should make for a good atmosphere. But there also are so many returning players now, especially, of course, Sebastien Haller. How do you perceive him so far? 
“It's brilliant what he's done. I said to someone, I think it was my dad, I can't believe he's come back in such good shape after what he's been through. He's come back so sharp and so ready to go. When you watch him train, you wouldn't think, oh, he's been out for that long and that seriousness. It's a credit to the kind of professional he is. Everyone knows how good he is as a player. Your respect for him just goes through the roof. To face that kind of adversity and bounce back. And he was almost not worried about it. The way he approached it was, I'll be fine, I'll be back, and I'll be ready to go. In training he doesn't look out of place and it's really nice to have him back. Hopefully he can score some goals for us.”

When you're around the quality players that we have in the team, how optimistic are you? 
“Like I said, if we can keep everyone fit, we have such a strong squad. We've been really unfortunate with injuries in the first round of the season. It killed the momentum at times when we were starting to pick up really important wins like when we beat Schalke in the Derby, but Marco gets injured. You get mixed emotions from the game, and you can't really take the momentum into the next one. To have everyone back, it does feel like we've had a transfer window and we've brought in eight new players as opposed to just got players back. That excites everyone. It also creates a competition for places which brings out the best of everyone in training and you know when the training intensity is better, we always play better on the weekend.” 

How will you help? What's going to be your role in the team? 
“I think it's going to be similar to the first round where I have to take on more responsibility. Every year or half year that I've played at the club, my responsibility in the team increased. I have to continue to be everywhere on the pitch and try my best to contribute going forwards and backwards and try and control games, try to dominate the midfield. I think everyone's aware of their responsibility and it's just about focusing on themselves. If we can all do that in our respective jobs, then I'm sure we'll be fine. We have more than enough quality.”

Let’s look a little further ahead to June 2023. What has to happen for you to say, it was a good season overall? 
“It's a tough one. A trophy obviously makes it a good season. And I think that would be really nice, but there's still so many games. I think this idea of aiming for places in the league and saying, oh, well, we still got enough time to get into the Champions League, doesn’t work. It’s rather, let's just play games. Let's just win games and see where it takes us. Simple as that, really.” 

Read the first part of the interview here.

BVB-TV by 1&1: The interview with Jude Bellingham in video