Jota tributes pour in after death of Liverpool star, crash details emerge
The death of Diogo Jota is going to sink in very slowly. Football has been paying its respects to him and his brother, Andre Silva.
Plus: Nico Williams sensationally blindsides Barcelona, what we're hearing about Lionel Messi's future, and Monaco unveil Paul Pogba.
The streets outside Anfield this morning are a sea of shirts, scarves and flowers, in the colours of Liverpool and clubs from further afield (see below). The city turned out for Diogo Jota, to mourn him and celebrate him.
We've had 24 hours to process the news of the death of the Liverpool forward and his brother, Andre Silva, and we'll focus on the outpouring of love for them in a moment. But before then, here are the latest updates on the devastating car crash in Spain which took their lives:
Guillermo Rai and Danny Taylor have put together a timeline of events and an overview of the wider context. It's desperately sad. These were two men with so much in front of them, a week and a half on from Jota's wedding. Tributes are arriving from all directions, leaving no doubt about how immensely popular and respected Liverpool's No 20 was.
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As yesterday went on, we had a social media message from Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson, who called Jota 'my mate. My buddy. The bloke I loved and will miss like crazy.' Jurgen Klopp, the manager who took Jota to Liverpool for £45m in 2020 said: 'There must be a bigger purpose! But I don't see it. I'm heartbroken.' Liverpool's current head coach Arne Slot — on whose watch, Jota scored the first goal back in August — said: 'I wish I had the words. But I know I do not.'
I was touched by the memories of our writers who wrote about Jota and dealt with him. Tim Spiers, a Wolverhampton Wanderers reporter while Jota was at Molineux, liked the fact that Jota called him 'mate'. James Pearce, our Liverpool correspondent, remembered Jota telling him how he was 'still paying to play football when I was 16'. They both tell stories about the Portugal international's prolific appetite for the FIFA series of video games.
In the United States, at the Club World Cup, many of the teams who remain in the competition held a minute of silence before training. Silences were also held before yesterday's Euro 2025 ties, including Spain Women's Group B meeting with Portugal. The Athletic's Simon Hughes took the time to head to Anfield and found an ocean of dedications to him, including shirts from Wolves, Leeds United, Rangers and Manchester United.
These are moments when the world's most tribal sport puts everything else aside. Some of those in mourning are remembering Jota the footballer. Others are remembering Jota the man. From either perspective, his popularity was vast and the void created is far too big for anybody to rationalise.
Lionel Messi's left foot won't ever spend its last dime. Like Roberto Carlos retaining the power to blast a ball through a concrete slab, Messi will be whipping free kicks into the top corner in his dotage.
What he won't be indefinitely is a professional footballer, and tick follows tock as he slides towards 40. With that in mind, is Inter Miami his final club?
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Visually, Messi is less enamoured with season two in Major League Soccer than he was with season one. For all to see, there's vexation in his body language, which might be because it isn't coming as easily as it did in 2024. If there was any pretence about MLS raising its ceiling closer to Europe's, Miami were made to smell the coffee by Paris Saint-Germain at the Club World Cup last week.
To the future, then. The situation as it stands is that Messi is 38, he has a contract which ends in a matter of months and a final World Cup to think about. There's chatter in the States about what comes next for him — whether he's happy as is — and Felipe Cardenas picked up the conversation for The Athletic. Here's how the land lies:
The tone of Felipe's analysis says Messi stays put past 2025. That feels like the direction of travel. But if he did have one more itch to scratch — one more European conquest to chase, say — there would be no time for him like the present.
(Kick-offs ET/UK time. All Club World Cup matches are shown on DAZN in the U.S. and UK, as well as the other channels stated.)
Friday: FIFA Club World Cup quarter-finals: Fluminense vs Al Hilal, 3pm/8pm — TNT, Fubo/Channel 5; Palmeiras vs Chelsea, 9pm/2am; UEFA Women's European Championship: Group C: Denmark vs Sweden, 12pm/5pm; Germany vs Poland, 3pm/8pm — both Fox Sports/ITV; MLS: LA Galaxy vs Vancouver Whitecaps, 10.30pm/3.30am — MLS Season Pass/Apple TV.
Saturday: FIFA Club World Cup quarter-finals: Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich, 12pm/5pm; Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund, 4pm/9pm — TNT, Fubo/Channel 5; UEFA Women's European Championship: Group D: Wales vs Netherlands, 12pm/5pm — Fox Sports/BBC; France vs England, 3pm/8pm — Fox Sports/ITV; MLS: Montreal vs Inter Miami, 7.30pm/12.30am; Nashville SC vs Philadelphia Union, 8.30pm/1.30am — both MLS Season Pass/Apple TV.
Sunday: Concacaf Gold Cup final: USMNT vs Mexico, 7pm/12am — Fox Sports, Fubo, ViX/Premier Sports. UEFA Women's European Championship: Group A: Norway vs Finland, 12pm/5pm – Fox Sports/BBC; Switzerland vs Iceland, 3pm/8pm — Fox Sports/ITV.
The following sentence is from an article written by our Brighton reporter, Andy Naylor, on the transfer of Brazilian forward Joao Pedro to Chelsea:
'Joao Pedro has become the 12th Brighton employee to leave for Chelsea in less than three years — a total that includes players, coaches (including former head coach Graham Potter) and recruitment staff. A deal worth up to £60million, which also incorporates a sell-on, swells the total sum received from the dozen departures to approximately £285m.'
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Woah. Haud the bus, as we say in Scotland. More than a quarter of a billion pounds paid by one Premier League club to another between 2022 and 2025? It's a high price for the eight-point gap which separated the teams in the 2024-25 table. But I'm sure Chelsea know what they're doing.
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New York Times
20 minutes ago
- New York Times
Can Barcelona really return to the Camp Nou next month?
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It will be when we can, but before the end of this season.' A bird's-eye view of heaven on earth: Spotify Camp Nou. 🚁 — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 28, 2025 While work on the Camp Nou went on, Barca made a temporary home at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys across the city on Montjuic, a ground that has about 40,000 fewer seats than the old Camp Nou. Barca had always planned to spend the entirety of the 2023-24 season there, but in early 2025, they had to apply to the local authorities to allow them to finish the 2024-25 campaign in the stadium. That change of plan meant a Clasico with Real Madrid was now set for the same weekend as a Rolling Stones concert scheduled at their temporary home. Barca sources at the time said they considered the Camp Nou as a potential option for the May 11 fixture. In the event, the Rolling Stones cancelled plans for a European tour, leaving Barca free to play at Montjuic. 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New York Times
20 minutes ago
- New York Times
Why the coaching refresh at Manchester City demonstrates a real appetite for change
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A larger than life character, Lillo could generally get away with not speaking English because, firstly, his role was to help Guardiola stay sharp and, secondly, he is charismatic enough to be of use on the training ground. Besides, many City players speak Spanish anyway — he is still very close with Fernandinho (who is multilingual), for example. Lillo played a valuable role in the club's success, firstly between 2020 and 2022 and then from 2023 until this summer. He even helped City prepare for matches in the season that they won the treble, despite him having left to manage Al Sadd; he returned to Manchester for the famous 4-0 victory over Real Madrid and was in Istanbul as City won the Champions League. Following that success, and the departure of Guardiola's assistants Maresca and Rodolfo Borrell, who left to become Austin FC's sporting director, Lillo returned, a special request from the manager. 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Inevitably, he was caught between the two jobs, but that did not mean he did not impress. In fact, as far back as January, Guardiola had intended to make Vicens his full-time assistant for the 2025-26 season, alongside another addition. 'It's happened for many years from all the assistant managers I've had; always I try to drink from their knowledge,' Guardiola said during the Club World Cup. 'I need the people like last season with Juanma, in the past with Mikel (Arteta), with Enzo, with Dome (Torrent), with Rodo, all the assistants help me. Always it's, 'What is your opinion? What would you do? How would you do it? What drill will you make?'' Sources say that Vicens provided that kind of presence on the staff and City made him a contract offer towards the end of the Premier League season, but he was provided the opportunity to manage Braga in Portugal, which was considered too good to turn down. He had initially agreed to begin his managerial career in the Netherlands with Heracles in 2022, but the agreement was cancelled and he continued at City. With him being more involved as an assistant, City had been looking for a new set-piece coach since the midpoint of last season, a search that eventually led to James French being recruited from Liverpool this summer. While Vicens was offered the chance to stay at City, the club had decided not to continue with Lillo and Dominguez — sources say the decision was communicated to them before the game at Fulham on the final day. City felt that, as well as freshening up the squad with new signings, new energy was needed in the coaching staff, too, though nobody left on bad terms. Advertisement Lillo, sources say, was also feeling in need of a rest. He had missed some games towards the end of the season through ill health and while he is not thought to have any serious issues, he intends to spend time in Spain with family. 'The new people that have come in, especially our new set-piece coach, explain things in a very simple way that I quite like and I know other players also like very much,' Ilkay Gundogan said in June, which raised a few eyebrows about how things had been working previously. Just as they did in the transfer market, unveiling Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri in the space of just a couple of days, City moved quickly to bring in Pep Lijnders, French and Kolo Toure before the Club World Cup — Lijnders even rearranged a family holiday so that he could join as soon as possible. Toure was brought on board temporarily, at least initially, to help out while in the U.S. and is said to have been popular with the players; with both Guardiola and Ljinders providing plenty of intensity, Toure is a softer touch, being closer to the squad and helping to provide the necessary balance. 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Guardiola was often seen with an arm on, or around, Lijnders' shoulder during City's games this summer and with their last-16 elimination at the hands of Al Hilal at least providing the silver lining of a four-week rest, there is little doubt around the club that the coaches will be plotting a route back to the top long before the players report back for duty in August. City returned from the States smarting at their relatively early exit but the tournament does appear to have served as a firebreaker between 'last' season and 'next' season, with new players and new staff given some time to bed in and provide an energy that had clearly been lacking.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
McLoughlin leaves Newport despite contract offer
Shane McLoughlin has also played for Bromley, AFC Wimbledon, Morecambe and Salford having come through the ranks at Ipswich Town [Huw Evans Picture Agency] Shane McLoughlin has left Newport County despite being offered a new contract by the League Two club. McLoughlin, who can play in defence or midfield, wore the captain's armband at times last season as he made 39 appearances, scoring three goals. Advertisement The 28-year-old was offered a new one-year deal to remain at Rodney Parade, but Newport say he has failed to take up the option of signing "within the stipulated timeframe". McLoughlin departs having made 81 appearances and scored nine goals since joining from Stockport County in 2023. "Everyone at Newport County thanks him for his service and commitment and wishes him well for the future," the club said.
