The death of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota in a car crash aged 28 has left the football world in shock.
Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, both died after the Lamborghini they were travelling in crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora.
BBC Sport has been told the 28-year-old Jota was on his way back to Liverpool for pre-season training, making the trip by car and ferry because he had undergone minor surgery so doctors advised him against flying.
Jota married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, with whom he had three children, just 11 days before the fatal crash.
Liverpool said Jota’s death is a “tragedy that transcends” the club, while fans gathered outside Anfield to lay tributes.
Reds manager Arne Slot said Jota was “the essence of what a Liverpool player should be”.
BBC Sport understands a wake for Jota and his brother will take place on Friday afternoon before their funeral on Saturday in Porto, Portugal.
Map showing the province of Zamora, in Spain, the highway A-52 and the town of Cernadilla, where Diogo Jota’s car crashed [BBC]
Jota and 25-year-old Silva, also a professional footballer for Portuguese second-tier club Penafiel, were killed after their car left the road because of a tyre blowout that occurred while overtaking another vehicle.
The Guardia Civil told BBC Sport both men died at about 00:30 local time on Thursday.
With Jota intending to return to Liverpool by boat, this is understood to mean he was travelling by car from Porto to take a ferry from Santander in northern Spain.
There are ferry routes from Santander to Plymouth and Portsmouth in the south of England.
Zamora, close to the Portuguese border, is about 190 miles from Porto and a similar distance from the port.
It is understood Jota had also travelled by road and sea to get to Porto for his wedding.
[BBC Sports]
