Trent Alexander-Arnold admitted that “it was hard” to perform during Real Madrid’s 3-2 win against Borussia Dortmund following the death of his former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota.
Jota, 28, and his brother Andre Silva - also a professional footballer at Portuguese second-tier side Penafiel – died in a car accident in northwestern Spain in the early hours of Thursday morning (July 3).
According to BBC Sport, when trying to overtake another vehicle, the Lamborghini they were travelling in left the road due to a tyre blowout and caught fire.
Tributes from the footballing world poured in once the news filtered through, with all of the clubs Jota had played for releasing touching tributes, as well as ex-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and several others.
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Silva and Jota’s joint funeral was then held in Gondomar, Portugal, on Saturday (July 5) with several of Jota’s Liverpool teammates, including Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, and Alexis MacAllister, all attending alongside head coach Arne Slot and former Reds captain Jordan Henderson.
Later in the day, another of Jota’s former Liverpool teammates, Alexander-Arnold, 26, started during Real Madrid’s 3-2 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Club World Cup quarter-finals in New Jersey.
And after the match, the England international admitted that it had been “extremely difficult” to take in the news of Jota’s death.
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"I had to try to perform for the team and help them win the game, no matter how difficult it was," Alexander-Arnold told DAZN.
"As hard as it was to do it, I had to push myself to focus on what my job and role was. I tried to do it as best as I could, but it was difficult, and I am not going to lie about that.
"[Jota] was one of my close friends - and I am sure that's what he would have wanted me to do. I'm sure we would have had a laugh and joke about the assist as well. He was there with me, I am sure."
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Jota and Trent played alongside each other 145 times for Liverpool.
"I shared the dressing room with him for five years - amazing memories on and off the pitch," Trent added.
"It goes without saying he will never be forgotten by anyone. He will live long in all our memories for the amazing man and the player he was.
"I've been around him, his brother, his family, his amazing wife, his amazing parents and his amazing children. It's truly, truly heartbreaking to wake up to news like that.
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"It's something you never expect."
Los Blancos forward Kylian Mbappe also paid tribute to Jota by indicating the number 20 with his fingers following his late strike against Dortmund.
Topics: Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Football, Real Madrid, Liverpool
Luke Davies