As the football world continues to digest the tragic death of Liverpool’s Diogo Jota, fans are beginning to realise just how much he meant to them.
Jota was never the flashiest player during his five years with the Reds, nor was he ever the most high-profile.
Nevertheless, the Portugal international always had a way of finding the spotlight, no matter if he sought it or not.
His clinical nature in front of goal meant Jota was never far away from glory with Liverpool and he was a constant, smiling presence around his teammates.
Much of the discourse since the devastating passing of he and his brother Andre Silva has been about what a wonderful person Jota was. He really was loved by just about everyone he came into contact with.
But beyond those special qualities, it is vital to remember just what a good footballer Jota was too. Amid a raft of stars in the Liverpool squad, the 28-year-old still managed to achieve something unique while playing for the Reds in the Champions League.
Diogo Jota of Liverpool holds the match ball after scoring a hat-trick against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League.
Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images
Diogo Jota achieved amazing Champions League feat
Although Jota never won the Champions League with Liverpool, he still made an impact in it.
The forward scored on his second ever appearance in the competition, bagging as the Reds beat FC Midtjylland at Anfield.
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His fourth outing was away against Atalanta in Bergamo. This was the evening Jota well and truly announced himself as a special player to the Liverpool fans.
The then 23-year-old hit a brilliant hat-trick as the Reds ran out 5-0 winners.
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After featuring against Real Madrid in the 2022 final defeat in Paris, Jota was then at it again the following season. This time Rangers were the team in his sights, with the No. 20 chalking up a hat-trick of assists as Liverpool thumped the Scottish side 7-0.
Only 6 players have had both a hat-trick of goals and a hat-trick of assists in the UEFA Champions League:
Samuel Eto'o
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Neymar
Diogo Jota
Serge Gnabry
Ousmane Dembélé https://t.co/t953ifRU0o
— Michael Reid (@michael_reid11) July 4, 2025
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And as statistician Michael Reid brilliantly posted after Jota passed away, that evening at Ibrox put him amongst some of football’s greatest ever.
“Only 6 players have had both a hat-trick of goals and a hat-trick of assists in the UEFA Champions League,” posted Reid. “Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Diogo Jota, Serge Gnabry, Ousmane Dembele.”
Remembering Jota’s stunning hat-trick
Jota only scored one further goal for Liverpool in the Champions League after his treble in Italy. That came against former club Atletico Madrid in the 2021/22 group stage.
But as Reid’s brilliant statistic shows, that hardly matters. Jota made his mark in the most impressive of ways.
His hat-trick in Bergamo was perhaps one of the greatest nights of his Liverpool career. It was the only hat-trick Jota scored for the Reds and announced himself as genuine competition for Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
The first goal came just 16 minutes into the match, and was classic Jota. Letting Trent Alexander-Arnold’s inch-perfect through ball roll across him, Jota held off the defender before dinking a delicate first time, left-footed finish over the goalkeeper and off the post.
17 minutes later and Jota was at it again. This time it was a great ball from Joe Gomez over the top of the defence. Jota’s first touch with his left foot expertly gave the defender no chance to get back in, before he lashed it home with his right.
Finally, with Liverpool 4-0 up, Jota timed his run perfectly to latch onto Sadio Mane’s forward pass, round the goalkeeper and slot home another left-footed finish. Truly two-footed, truly clinical. Truly, Diogo Jota.