GONDOMAR, PORTUGAL - JULY 05: Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson, football players for Liverpool FC, carry floral tributes which read "20" and "30" as they arrive with teammates at a funeral held for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at Igreja Matriz de Gondomar on July 05, 2025 in Gondomar, Portugal. Diogo Jota was a professional football player for Liverpool FC and the Portuguese national team, while Andre Silva played for FC Penafiel in Portugal's second tier. The brothers died in a car accident in the province of Zamora, Spain, on July 3. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson carry floral tributes which read '20' and '30' as they arrive with team-mates at a funeral held for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva at Igreja Matriz de Gondomar on July 05, 2025 in Gondomar, Portugal
The reception that used to greet Liverpool’s title-winning sides of yesteryear on the first day of pre-season, in the days before the Premier League, is the stuff of legend. Ronnie Moran would famously bring in the players’ league winners’ medals in a box and plonk it on a table in the dressing room.
"There you go," he would announce. "If you have earned a medal, take one." Bringing the squad back down to earth, it was the great’s way of ensuring that no-one got carried away. Past success is no guarantee of future achievements, after all.
What Arne Slot’s squad would give for something similar when the reigning Premier League champions now report back for pre-season on Tuesday (July 8).
Instead, they face the unenviable task of having to return to the AXA Training Centre when football is the last thing on any of their minds. And they will find themselves back in the very place where the absence of one of their own is felt most deeply.
When the Reds start to arrive back in Kirkby on Tuesday, it will have been just five days since the tragic passing of their team-mate, the favourite, .
And it will have been just three days since the majority of the squad were present in the Portuguese’s hometown of Gondomar to witness .
The pictures that came in from Portugal were heartbreaking, with the devastation on the faces of the likes of and abundant for all to see.
was one of a handful of the squad absent from the funeral, but his own tribute to Jota was equally harrowing.
“I am truly lost for words. Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break,” . “Team mates come and go but not like this. It’s going to be extremely difficult to accept that Diogo won’t be there when we go back.”
This had been the summer of Jota’s life. A Premier League champion, he followed that up by winning the Nations League with Portugal before marrying his childhood sweetheart just two weeks before his fatal accident.
Likewise, all of his Liverpool team-mates will have been riding on a high throughout the break, before being brought brought back down to earth in the most traumatic of circumstances.
The fact that Jota had been driving through Spain with his brother, Andre Silva, in order to catch a ferry back to England for the start of pre-season, makes their loss all the more cruel.
The first phase of Reds players had initially been due back at the AXA Training Centre on Friday (July 4) ahead of a larger contingent returning on Monday (July 7).
The squad were instead granted extra time off to process the shock news of Jota's passing, with the majority travelling to attend his funeral.
But now a return to action awaits. In truth, with the grief at such a loss still so raw, it feels so soon at a time when football should only be secondary.
Yet Liverpool's Premier League title defence starts in 39 days at home to Bournemouth, while they are due at Wembley for the Community Shield against Crystal Palace in 35 days.
And their first pre-season friendly is currently set to take place at Preston North End in just six days’ time (Sunday, July 13). While a decision on whether the Reds will fulfil that fixture will not be taken until all players and staff are consulted following their return to the AXA Training Centre, football stops for no-one, sadly.
The champions' preparations for the new campaign have to start at some point, whether they are ready for it or not.
The only blessing in the players' and staff's return to Kirkby this week is at least they will have each other.
Liverpool Football Club has already dealt with far too many tragedies during its 133-year lifespan. Its mantra of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ once again carries a far greater meaning.
The Reds have to find a way to return to some form of normality. But life will never be normal again. Instead, they are coming to terms with a new reality that no-one wants to accept.
It feels far too soon for Liverpool to have to contemplate playing football again. But they can at least look to each other and to some of their rival peers for strength.
Jota’s international team-mates, Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo, were visibly distraught when lining up for Al-Hilal in their FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final on Friday (July 4), before valiantly arriving in Portugal barely 12 hours later to attend the funeral.
Pedro Neto and former Reds vice-captain , meanwhile, were unable to attend the funeral due to their own Club World Cup commitments in the United States so instead paid their own tributes to Jota out on the pitch.
“No matter how difficult it was, no matter how difficult it is, I still have a job to do,” after claiming an assist in his new side, Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund.
"As hard as it was, I have got to try and push that to the back of my mind and focus on what was my job and my role today. I tried to do it as best as I could, but it was difficult and I am not going to lie about that.
"I did it in honour of my close friend. That’s what I’m sure he would have wanted me to do.
“And we would have had a laugh and joke about the assist as well. That was in some way in memory of him. He was there with me today, I am sure.”
Perhaps football can act as medicine, too, for the pain the Liverpool players and staff undoubtedly feel.
Eyes will be on Kirkby on Tuesday and, if the friendly goes ahead, Deepdale on Sunday, too.
At some point, the conversation in the Liverpool dressing room may take an obvious turn: 'Do it for Diogo'. But for now such talk can wait. Instead, all the players and staff can do is take care of themselves and each other, knowing they have the full fanbase - and indeed the world of football - behind them.
If the squad are ready to play and ready to train, they will have the full support to do that. If they aren't, and need more time to grieve and process, away from the footballing spotlight, the support will be just as unwavering.
Whatever happens in the days, weeks and months ahead, the colleagues Diogo Jota has sadly left behind know they will never walk alone.