At just 19, Jude Bellingham with his enigmatic and charismatic character is altering the narrative of football. He has grown to become a leader at Borussia Dortmund and his most recent leadership display in Dortmund’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in the UCL round of 16 tie on Wednesday shows how natural a leader he is and why age is not synonymous to leadership.

Borussia Dortmund secured a narrow 1-0 home victory over Chelsea, courtesy of Karim Adeyemi’s superb solo goal in the second half as they head into the second leg at Stamford Bridge with a goal advantage. Obviously, the triumph cannot be more attributed to anyone than the England international.

Becoming the second youngest player to captain a side in the Champions League knockout stage, the teenage midfielder led the home side in an impeccable fashion. The organization of the players on and off the ball, the dictation of proceedings in the middle of the park in addition to the mobilization of the home team’s spectators toward the continuous cheer and applause for the players, among others, were the commendable leadership qualities exhibited by Bellingham in their encounter last night.

The erstwhile Birmingham City revelation was omnipresent through the nineties. His game was characterized by a frequent transition from attack to defense in a bid to help his team. In doing so, he was yellow carded but quite remarkably, he maintained his composure as he saw off potential sending-off challenges.

In a night of glory, Bellingham notched an 84% pass accuracy, made two key passes, made a whopping 69 touches while winning every tackle he was involved in and completing three dribbles.

The young sensation is a man that knows his onion and lives by his words. His performance against the Blues affirms his previous statement where he said in an interview with UEFA last year that; “The biggest part of leadership is that you lead by example with your performance first and foremost.”

The 19-year-old star has led by example and is aiming to replicate such feat come the second leg tie.