Liverpool Team to Pay Respects at Diogo Jota Funeral in Portugal

Liverpool players will attend the funeral of their teammate, Diogo Jota, and his brother, André Silva, in Portugal this Saturday, ESPN has confirmed.

The tragic deaths of Jota, 28, and his brother occurred in a car accident in northern Spain on Wednesday evening. They were reportedly en route to Santander to catch a ferry to England, where Jota was scheduled to rejoin the Premier League champions for training on Monday.

The funeral service for the brothers is scheduled for Saturday at the Matriz de Gondomar church, situated 33 kilometers from Porto. Family and friends gathered on Friday to pay their respects at the wake.

A source close to the club revealed to ESPN that several members of the Liverpool team will travel to Portugal Saturday morning to attend the funeral.

Jota and his parents have residences in Gondomar, where he began his football journey as a child. Gondomar, a working-class town neighboring Porto, is also Jota's birthplace.

Numerous Liverpool players have expressed their grief and offered tributes to Jota. Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah, and Virgil van Dijk have shared heartfelt messages acknowledging the loss of their former teammate.

Liverpool's new head coach, Arne Slot, along with the club's ownership group, Fenway Sports Group, have also released public statements honoring Jota.

As a mark of respect, Liverpool has postponed the team's return to preseason training, initially scheduled for Monday.