THIS might finally be the year in which Borussia Dortmund dethrone Bayern Munich.

All too often in Bayern’s record 10-year run of German titles, Dortmund have failed to capitalise when Bayern dropped points.

That changed Saturday when Dortmund routed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 to rise atop the Bundesliga after Bayern lost 3-1 against Mainz, conceding three times in 14 minutes.

Jude Bellingham scored the opening goal for Dortmund, the versatile England midfielder playing like a striker to receive the ball in space on the edge of the box, turn and shoot past Kevin Trapp. Now Bellingham’s club lead Bayern by one point with five games to go in the title race.

“It would mean the world to me,” Bellingham said of his chances of becoming a Bundesliga champion in televised comments on Saturday. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, speak about it too much and put myself in a place where I feel like I’ve already won it, because there’s five really tough games to come, whichever way you look at it.

“But it would be massive,” he continued. “I’d love more than anything at the moment to win the league with this club, after everything it’s given me, I’m giving absolutely everything. All of the boys are giving absolutely everything to try and make it happen.”

Still only 19, Bellingham is nearing the end of his third season at Dortmund and there’s  transfer speculation aplenty, with interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs. During his time in Germany, he has developed into a starter for England and a leader for Dortmund on the field.

A club strategy of signing the best young talent to sell on at a profit has treated Dortmund fans to performances from stars such as Bellingham, Erling Haaland, and Ousmane Dembele over the last few years. But that same strategy has meant the club is in a constant cycle of rebuilding, up against a Bayern team with a stable core.

The focus on young attacking players has also been blamed for Dortmund’s persistent fragility in defence in recent years, especially at big moments. It looked like Dortmund might have blown another chance with a 4-2 loss to Bayern on April 1 when they crumbled after an early blunder from goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, then again April 15 by allowing lowly Stuttgart to level a game at 3-3 in added time with 10 players.

For now, though, the usual order of German soccer is reversed. Dortmund may slip occasionally, but Bayern are hitting new lows. Since his surprise appointment last month to replace Julian Nagelsmann as Bayern coach, ex-Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has two wins, three draws and three losses. The game that ended Nagelsmann’s reign was his third loss in 37 games this season.

Both teams have relatively easy ends to the season, with three games apiece at home. Dortmund’s next game is against traditional rivals Bochum but ones that are on poor form, and they finish against Mainz, who just upset Bayern. Meanwhile, Bayern get to play the current bottom two — Hertha Berlin and Schalke — but those teams will be fighting hard to avoid relegation. Bayern’s penultimate game, at home against Leipzig on May 20, could prove decisive.