Dressing room intrusions, killer Klassiker error and how Jobe Bellingham has struggled to emerge from Jude's shadow at Borussia Dortmund

Jobe made a promising enough start at Dortmund after joining up with the squad in the United States for the expanded Club World Cup, and marked his first start for the club in their group-stage clash against Mamelodi Sundowns with a goal, firing home a superb low volley, before notching an assist against Ulsan on matchday three.

Dortmund qualified for the round of 16 as Group F winners, setting up an encounter with Liga MX outfit Monterrey. A brace from Serhou Guirassy lifted BVB to a 2-1 victory, but it was an afternoon to forget for Bellingham, who picked up a yellow card in the first half, before being hooked by Kovac after just 55 minutes.

That was his second booking of the tournament, and so Jobe was banned for Dortmund's quarter-final tie: a glamour showdown against Jude's Real Madrid.

"I think we all saw that he was very disappointed," Kovac said after the game. "I think he did not exactly know that the second yellow card is a suspension at half-time. He was a little bit surprised."

It was a cruel twist of fate for Jobe, but the Dortmund boss also offered some words of comfort: "He's young. His brother is also young, so I'm convinced they will face each other, maybe next season in the Champions League, and then the future. The future is for them."

In Jobe's absence, BVB fell to a 3-2 defeat against Real, with Jude among the star performers as the Spanish giants won the midfield battle.

Bellingham bounced back quickly from that disappointment, impressing in pre-season games against Sportfreunde Siegen, Lille and Juventus. That earned him a spot in Kovac's line up for Dortmund's opening Bundesliga fixture of the 2025-26 campaign away at St Pauli, but he was brought crashing back down to earth as the two sides played out a chaotic 3-3 draw.

Despite BVB going in at the break 1-0 up, Kovac hauled Bellingham off, with the youngster only managing 28 touches in a subdued first-half showing. The visitors went on to establish a 3-1 lead, but collapsed after Filippo Mane was sent off in the 85th minute, and ultimately had to settle for a point.

The frantic finale did not go down well with Bellingham's father, Mark, who allegedly stormed into the players tunnel to confront Kehl after the final whistle. He was furious about his son being substituted so early, and voiced his concerns over Kovac's tactical decisions in an explosive outburst that only served to bring extra scrutiny on Bellingham.

The club played down any tension publicly, but Sport BILD reported that Kehl later contacted Bellingham Sr. over the phone and warned him that any repeat incidents would not be tolerated. Kehl said when pressed on the matter by reporters: "We are all disappointed about the result yesterday. And still, the active area at our club remains reserved for players, coaches and officials, not families and advisors. This will not happen again. We have made this clear to all involved."

Bellingham started again in Dortmund's second game against Union Berlin, and put in a courageous display after suffering a nasty injury early in the game. He was left covered in blood after colliding with Union star Andrej Ilic when challenging for the ball, and played on sporting a huge plaster above his right eyebrow.

Dortmund eased to a 3-0 win and Bellingham's work in defence was a big reason they managed to keep a clean sheet, as he won seven of his duels. However, he was still first to be substituted because Kovac wasn't satisfied with the other side of the Birmingham City academy graduate's game.

"He has to stay behind the opposing strikers. It's no use if he drops too deep and we play four against two in the build-up," said the BVB coach. "Jobe comes from the English Championship, where the pace is different – he still has to get used to it." 

Kovac proceeded to drop Bellingham to the bench for a trip to Heidenheim, which Dortmund won 2-0. He was restricted to another late cameo three days later, as BVB opened their Champions League campaign with a thrilling 4-4 draw against Juventus, and Kovac was forced to field questions about the £28m man's role.

"There's a lot of competition and quality in the team," he said. "I know what he can do. He's 19 years old and new to us. So we don't need to write anything that's totally unimportant. The crucial thing is that we perform as a team; everyone is part of that."

Bellingham spent the rest of 2025 struggling to make the most out of limited opportunities. He only started six more games, with just three of those outings coming in the Bundesliga. The Champions League offered a reprieve of sorts, with Bellingham's most complete all-round display for BVB to date coming in a 4-2 win over Copenhagen on October 21, in which he set up two goals, but the lows have outweighed the highs.

Indeed, three days earlier, Bellingham's first experience of the Klassiker ended in embarrassment. Dortmund were holding runaway league leaders Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw at Allianz Arena when the England Under-21 international came on in the 73rd minute, but the contest got away from them moments later.

Luis Diaz drove to the byline after latching onto a brilliant long pass from Harry Kane on the left flank before cutting the ball across goal, and Bellingham was there first. However, he lost his footing when stopping the ball, and took too long to re-adjust, with Michael Olise able to nip in and deflect his attempted clearance into the net.

Kovac defended Bellingham after his team's eventual 2-1 defeat, saying, "it was an artistic feat in its own right that he didn’t score an own-goal", and he also received some kind words from Kane, who described him as a "good player with a lot of potential" caught in a "tough situation". But none of that would have come as much of a consolation as Bellingham looked like a man completely stripped of confidence.

He needed a break to turn the tide, and for a brief moment in early December, it looked like it might come. Bellingham played the full 90 minutes of Dortmund's 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League, and retained his place for a trip to Freiburg. But any hope he had of nailing down a starting role was then dashed, as he was sent off eight minutes into the second half for a last-man foul on Philipp Treu. 

Dortmund could only manage a 1-1 stalemate with 10 men, and Bellingham was hit with a two-match ban. That was a harsh punishment considering goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was really the one at fault after playing a hospital ball out to Bellingham, but it summed up the midfielder's start to life at Dortmund: plenty of effort but absolutely no luck. 

It has been suggested that the actions of Bellingham's father led to his reduced playing time, but you don't need to dig very deep to unearth the real reasons. On his Bundesliga debut, Bellingham played as the sole No.10 behind strikers Karim Adeyemi and Guirassy, but Kovac has since favoured a 3-4-3 formation and pigeon-holed him into one position.

"I think his strengths lie more in the number six position, he needs the game in front of him," the former Bayern boss said in September. Bellingham has shown that maturity and commitment whenever he has taken the pitch, but he's had to accept being third-choice in the central midfield pecking order.

Bellingham was more of a box-to-box midfielder at Sunderland, but Felix Nmecha has been Kovac's go-to No.8, with Marcel Sabitzer sitting in front of the defence. Although Bellingham has no problem playing as a No.6, he needs a licence to get forward in order to play his best football, and it's no surprise that he hasn't made much of an impact when most of his minutes from the bench have come in the holding role.

There have also been constant suggestions that Bellingham has been weighed down by comparisons to his brother. He has certainly looked tense, with the composure he showed at Sunderland making way for tentativeness, and some critics have mercilessly tried to bring him down, including former Bayern and Germany star Dietmar Hamann, who has claimed that Jobe is a "problem child" who is "not even half as good as Jude".

Definitive statements like that are premature, and the suggestion that Jobe is a failure if he doesn't reach the same heights as Jude is unfair. Jude is one of the finest players in Dortmund and England's modern history; if Jobe even gets close to emulating him that would be a huge achievement, and early teething problems do not mean he is incapable of making the grade.

The good news is that Kovac recognises that, and he is prepared to be patient. "My experience is that when a young player joins a new club - and this does vary - is that it can take three to six months to adapt," he said in a recent interview with The Athletic. "It takes time, but sometimes people are not fair and expect an immediate, big development. He's also coming from abroad, where the language and culture were different, and his brother was here, too, so there's that extra pressure around him."

Kovac added on Bellingham's attitude and obsession with football: "As a human being, he’s wonderful. He’s an educated, humble guy, who wants to work hard and to improve every single day, either by watching footage or on training pitch. It’s absolutely what a coach wants. Sometimes I have to stop him and remind him that we play two games a week.

"But I really like it. Not only because of how it helps him, but also because it pushes other players. Sometimes, I say to him that he shouldn’t eat, drink and sleep football, because you need different things in your life to keep your mind free, but everything has been very positive. He’s making steps forward all the time, and he will absolutely have a good career. I’m very happy with him. He’s a top guy, and a very good player."

The last few months have been a brutal test of Bellingham's character, but he's still standing, and could now be rewarded. Pascal Gross was sold back to Brighton at the start of the January window, and Sabitzer has been laid low with a calf injury. As a result, Bellingham played every minute of Dortmund's 3-2 home win against St Pauli on Saturday, and will be expected to start again when they face Tottenham in the Champions League on Tuesday. A strong showing in north London could put Bellingham back on an upward trajectory, perhaps even reviving talk of a first senior international call-up.

"To play with my brother for England that would be the biggest dream of my life. Nothing would even get close to that," Jude said on the 'Out of the Floodlights' podcast back in 2024. That still seems a long way off now, but Jobe has the platform. It's just a question of whether he embraces the spotlight or shrinks under it.