By the end, it was all too much for him. Jude Bellingham paced around, rubbed his forehead and a bit into a fluorescent green bib as his emotions took over.
The dream was dying in front of his eyes and there was nothing he could do, bar ask some stewards whether there was any chance of salvation arriving in Cologne. It was not to be. Football is the most wonderful sport but, on days such as these, its cruelty cuts you to the bone.
Borussia Dortmund had played wretchedly against Mainz in the game they were expected to win and were losing 2-1 but, for eight minutes, the trophy was in their hands. Bayern Munich had slipped in the game they were expected to win against Cologne and this was going to be enough.
But then news arrived that Jamal Musiala had pounced for Bayern and, at the same time, put a dagger through Dortmund hearts. How Bellingham, who has been nursing a knee issue, wanted to be out there to help it but it was to no avail.
Superman could have put a yellow and black uniform on and it still wouldn’t have been enough, as the calamity of a ruinous opening 25 minutes, in which they conceded two cheap goals and missed a penalty, came home to roost. What a crying shame a remarkable season should end this way.
Bayern have now won 11 titles in a row and you have to wonder when Dortmund will get as close to them again: they had worked wonders, having sold Erling Haaland and Manuel Akanji to Manchester City, to even get into this position. Bellingham isn’t likely to be around to lead any fightback.
Outside the stadium before kick-off, some were behaving as if this was a foregone conclusion. They sang, they set off flares, they wore jerseys with the number nine emblazoned and carried paper versions of the Bundesliga shield, ready, willing and able to celebrate.
You could almost reach out and touch the emotion but, deep down, you feared whether it was too presumptuous. Football has a horrible habit on occasions such as these of ruining parties and nerves can destroy the best laid plans.
When the smoke from the pre-match pyrotechnics billowed away, you hoped Dortmund would be left with clear minds but, really, the tumult had left them befuddled. Mainz didn’t have anything riding on this fixture but they were good enough to inflict maximum damage.
From the first meaningful sight of goal, Mainz took the lead when Andreas Hanche-Olsen turned in at the near post from a corner. It was a moment that led to gasps and yelps but, swiftly, Dortmund got an opportunity to retrieve the situation with the award of a penalty via VAR.
Sebastian Haller, once of West Ham, stepped up but you could almost see the nerves leaping out of him: his shot, accordingly, was weak and too close to goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, who plunged to his left and turned the ball away. More yelps, more gasps.
If that was bad, the nadir arrived in the 24th minute when Karim Onisiwo rose to meet a cross. His header was precise but goalkeeper Gregor Kobel will wonder whether he could have done more to stop it squirming from his grasp and over the line.
With Munich ahead in Cologne, a miracle was needed in the second half and while Dortmund improved, pulling one back in the 68th minute through Raphael Guerriro, they never convinced that they had a grandstand finish in them.
Salvation, then, seemed as if it was on its way, news of Cologne’s equaliser starting a fire of euphoria. As quickly as it looked like becoming an inferno, however, it was snuffed out. Dortmund got an equaliser of their own through Niklas Sule but it was too little, too late.
And, for everyone in this wonderful stadium who had come for a celebration, it meant they were guests at a wake.
