Diogo Jota was under medical advice to avoid air travel at the time the Liverpool star and his brother Andre Silva tragically lost their lives in a car accident. The siblings died in July following a tyre blowout near the town of Zamora. Jota, who would have celebrated his 29th birthday today (Thursday December 4), had enjoyed several joyful months before his untimely death. He was part of Liverpool's Premier League-winning squad and had celebrated Portugal's Nations League triumph.
Beyond football, he married Rute Cardoso just 11 days before his fatal car accident. Jota was travelling with his younger brother Silva, 25, who was also a professional footballer for Liga Portugal 2 side Penafiel, during his final moments. The pair were heading to the UK for the start of Liverpool's pre-season training after Jota had been told by doctors not to fly back to England following lung surgery. The Liverpool forward and his sibling had intended to reach the port city of Santander, via an overnight stop in Benavente, before catching a ferry to Portsmouth.
"The surgery he had had was lung surgery and he had been advised against flying following this," CNN Portugal's Rui Laura explained in July.
"He was on his way to the northern Spanish port city of Santander to cross the ferry and reach the UK that way and carry on with the car once he reached Britain. He was on his way to Liverpool with his brother."
The Liverpool squad reconvened for pre-season just days after Jota's tragic death. His passing was described as "an unimaginable loss" in a club statement at the time.
The Liverpool club statement read: "Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota. The club have been informed the 28-year-old has passed away following a road traffic accident in Spain along with his brother, Andre.
"Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request the privacy of Diogo and Andre's family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss. We will continue to provide them with our full support."
The footballing community paid tribute to Jota and Silva throughout the summer. Meanwhile, Liverpool's difficulties in recapturing their title-winning form are understandable as the squad continues to process the sudden loss of Jota.
Jota was deeply cherished by his team-mates, as highlighted by Andy Robertson last month. The Liverpool defender admitted to being overwhelmed with emotion after thinking about his late friend ahead of helping Scotland qualify for the World Cup.
"I've hid it well, but today I've been in bits. I know the age I'm at, this could be my last chance to go to the World Cup," Robertson said after the match. "I couldn't get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much together about the World Cup.
"He missed out on Qatar [2022 World Cup] because of injury, and I missed out because Scotland weren't in it. I know he will be somewhere smiling over me tonight.
"I couldn't get him out of my head the whole day. I was in a bit of trouble in my room earlier. I think I hid it well from the boys and I'm so glad it ended up this way."