Real Madrid star Trent Alexander-Arnold fought back tears as Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund paid tribute to Diogo Jota.
A moment of silence was held before kick-off on Saturday night’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final in honour of Jota and his brother, Andre Silva.
The match took place just under 72 hours after Jota and Silva had died in a car crash in northern Spain.
Alexander-Arnold was a team-mate of Jota at Liverpool for five years and he was moved during the tribute.
The 26-year-old and his Real Madrid team also held a minute’s silence in training on Thursday, with the right back then sharing a heartfelt message.
Within the message, he detailed how much Jota meant to him and admitted he was struggling to come to terms with the news.
Trent Alexander-Arnold fought back the tears during a moment of silence for Diogo Jota
Alexander-Arnold was a team-mate of Jota at Liverpool for five years before leaving
Jota, 28, and his brother Andre, 26, both died following a car crash in Spain
‘It’s so difficult to find the right words when your head and heart are struggling to accept that someone you care so much about has gone,’ Alexander-Arnold wrote.
He continued: ‘Diogo, your family was your world. They were everything. For Rute, his children, and his parents, all of our hearts are broken. And for Andre as well. Brothers and best friends.
‘When it’s less painful, I want to remember Diogo with a big smile. So many laughs and happy moments. He was such a great teammate and a true friend.
‘Forever number 20. Rest in peace, Diogo.’
The duo played together for Liverpool for five years, featuring in 144 games as team-mates, before Alexander-Arnold departed for Real Madrid this summer.
Jota died alongside his brother when his Lamborghini had a tyre blow out while overtaking another vehicle on the A-52 at Cernadilla near Zamora – just ten miles over the border from Portugal.
The car is said to have rolled and burst into flames, with emergency services unable to save the footballing duo. Jota’s brother, Andre Silva, 26, played for Portuguese second division side Penafiel.
Jota and Silva were headed to Santander to catch a ferry to Britain after Diogo was advised not to fly following lung surgery, it was reported in his home country.
Together, Alexander-Arnold and Jota played together 144 times over five years for Liverpool
Many of Jota’s Liverpool team-mates past and present attended the funeral service on Saturday
His death, which cast clouds of sorrow over the footballing world, came just two weeks after he married his girlfriend and mother of their three kids Rute Cardoso in Porto, his home city.
Many of Jota’s Liverpool team-mates past and present attended the funeral service in Gondomar, Portugal, on Saturday.
Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Joe Gomez were among those who paid their respects, with Van Dijk and Robertson seen carrying floral tributes into the church.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot and several Portuguese internationals, including Bruno Fernandes, Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves, also attended, joining hundreds of mourners who lined the streets to honour Jota, who scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for Liverpool and won the Premier League title with the club last season.
