Liverpool and Preston pay tribute to Diogo Jota before pre-season clash

Time of India

9 hours ago

As
Liverpool
geared up to kick off their pre-season friendly against
Preston North End
FC on Sunday, July 13, 2025, the players, staff, and supporters of the two teams paid tribute to Diogo Jota during their pre-season friendly. He died in a car crash in Spain on July 3, 2025. Liverpool were kicking off their pre-season friendlies with a game at Preston on Sunday, July 13, 2025, 10 days after Jota, 28, and his brother Andre Silva, 25, lost their lives in a car crash in Spain on July 3.
Preston captain Ben Whiteman laid a wreath in front of Liverpool's travelling fans before a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was sung ahead of kickoff. According to ESPN, the teams took to the pitch wearing black armbands before a poignant minute's silence was held in the brothers' memory. Preston also produced a special matchday program in recognition of the significance of the fixture.
Meanwhile, ahead of the friendly match, Liverpool boss
Arne Slot
also paid a heartfelt tribute to Jota, saying that it had been difficult for the team to get back to work after the death of Jota, and so he had suggested to his players that perhaps the best way forward was to follow their late teammate's shining example.
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"What I've said to the players is, it's very difficult to find the right words because we constantly debate what is appropriate," Slot was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying in an interview with Liverpool's in-house media. "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?' he added.
"And I've said to them, maybe the best thing for us to do is handle this situation like Jota did," Slot further stated. "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, or 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," he continued.
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Liverpool announced on Friday, July 11, 2025, that they would permanently retire Jota's number 20. The club delayed the return of players to pre-season training, as most of them took part in the funeral in Portugal. Slot said Jota, 28, who played a key role in Liverpool winning the Premier League title this past season, was one player he could always count on in difficult moments. "I always looked at him and said, 'Now we need something special from you,'" Slot said. "And he delivered so many times. I can come up with all of these moments.
"So we are in a very difficult time, so let's try to do what Diogo did so many times. If it's so difficult, then try a little bit harder or just keep on going and try to make it work." Slot, who said the team would always carry Jota in their hearts, said it was a challenge to see anything, including football, as "important if we think of what has happened." "But we are a football club, and we need to train, and we need to play again, whether we want it or not."