Liverpool remember 'champion in everything' Diogo Jota in first match since tragic death

The National

3 days ago

Liverpool manager Arne Slot paid tribute to 'champion' Diogo Jota as the Reds returned to the field for the first time since the Portuguese player's death.
Jota died alongside his brother Andre Silva on July 3, barely a week after marrying his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, after their car came off the road and burst into flames in northern Spain.
On Sunday, Liverpool played their first match since the tragedy, defeating Preston North End 3-1 in a pre-season friendly.
A rendition of Liverpool's anthem You'll Never Walk Alone was played before the start of the match at Deepdale, and Preston captain Ben Whiteman laid a wreath in front of the away supporters.
At the start of the 20th minute, the crowd burst into Jota's song, set to the tune of Bad Moon Rising.
Darwin Nunez paid tribute to Jota after scoring Liverpool's second to make it 2-0 with Jota's goal celebration, dropping to the floor to mimic playing a video game. Conor Bradley and Cody Gakpo were also on target for Liverpool.
Liverpool had delayed the return of players to pre-season training as most of them attended the funeral in Portugal last week. The club announced on Friday that they would permanently retire Jota's number 20 shirt.
Jota was part of the Liverpool side that won the Premier League last season and in his final match won the Uefa Nations League with Portugal against Spain in June.
'I think what I take comfort in is that in the last month of his life he was a champion in everything,' Slot said ahead of the match.
'A champion for his family, which is the main and most important thing, because he got married.
'A champion for his country because he won the Nations League with a country that he cared about so much, because he also wore the flag when we had celebrations.
'And of course a champion for us by winning the Premier League.'
Slot admitted it had been difficult for the team to get back to work.
'What I've said to the players, it's very difficult to find the right words because we constantly debate what is appropriate,' Slot said.
'What is appropriate in our actions? What is appropriate [for] what we have to say? Can we train again? Can we laugh again? Can we be angry if there's a wrong decision?
'And I've said to them, maybe the best thing for us to do is handle this situation like Jota was,' he added. 'And what I meant with that is that Jota was always himself, it didn't matter if he was talking to me, to his teammates, to the staff, he was always himself.
'So let us try to be ourselves as well. So, if we want to laugh we laugh; if we want to cry we're going to cry.'
Several Liverpool players attended the funeral in Portugal, with others at a memorial that took place in midweek. There had been question marks over whether this fixture would go ahead, but Slot said: 'We are a football club and we need to train and we need to play again, if we want it or not.'