Liverpool's club chaplain Bill Bygroves paid a beautiful tribute to Diogo Jota on Monday, following the untimely death of the club's striker and his brother Andre last week.
Tributes continue to pour in from across Merseyside and beyond as the world of soccer tries to comprehend the unthinkable reality that two siblings in their 20s have passed away.
Anfield's book of condolence will remain open until Tuesday, and fans have shown their support and heartbreak with an incredible number of tributes outside the ground, be it shirts, scarves or even a game's controller.
Liverpool's LFCTV began broadcasting again Monday for the first time since Jota's passing was announced with a show dedicated in honor to the Portugal forward. Speaking on the program, Bygroves' words summed up the enormity of the emotion in the city.
"The sudden and traumatic nature of the news that we heard took us all time to just even process, never mind empathize and sympathize with.
"And of course, grief is a process and we've got to allow people time for that process," said the club's religious counsel.
Well-wishers leave flowers at a memorial set up close to Anfield football ground for their Portuguese forward Diogo Jota in Liverpool, north-west England July 3, 2025. Liverpool striker Diogo Jota died along with his brother early July 3, 2025 in a road accident in northwest Spain, the Spanish Civil Guard said. The accident occurred on a highway in the province of Zamora. The vehicle "left the road" before bursting into flames, the Civil Guard said, adding that the two passengers, Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Felipe, also a professional footballer, were deceased
Diogo Jota's death has led to countless tributes around the world once the news was confirmed (Image: Photo by PAUL BARKER/AFP via Getty Images)
"Of course tears are involved in that. It's bad psychology and bad theology to bottle everything up. So there must be the outpouring of grief. And that takes time too.
"And allowing the family to grieve with dignity and to allow the family to just begin that process is so vitally important.
"Incidentally, speaking about the fact that we sing, You'll Never Walk Alone, that is an enormous comfort to so many, isn't it?
"We hear it sung as an anthem, or as a battle cry on match day. But of course, at the Hillsborough services, we hear it's sung as a prayer. And people can identify and empathize and sympathize with folk going through such trauma."
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JULY 04: (SUN AND SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Jordan Henderson former captian for Liverpool paying tribute for Diogo Jota at Anfield on July 04, 2025 in Liverpool, England. The Liverpool player and Portugal international Diogo Jota, 28, was killed in a car crash yesterday in Zamora, Spain. He was travelling with his brother, returning to the UK for the start of the Premier League season (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Reflecting on the tributes, laid at Anfield, Bygroves added: "There's like a blanket of love here. And that shows the empathy and sympathy that is being displayed by our city and others beyond our city. Because of course, in one way or another, we can all identify somehow with grief.
"But when it comes like this, so traumatic and devastating, it touches all of our hearts. I think folk just want to show to the family how much we care and how much we love and that they are in our thoughts and prayers continually.
"This club has had to deal with Hysel, had to deal with Hillsborough. This city knows how to grieve. To express their oneness with the family at this time is so vitally important."