Trent Alexander-Arnold acknowledged that it was challenging to perform during Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund after the passing of his former Liverpool teammate, Diogo Jota.
Jota, aged 28, along with his brother Andre Silva, who is also a professional footballer playing for the Portuguese second-tier team Penafiel, tragically lost their lives in a car accident in northwestern Spain during the early hours of Thursday morning (July 3).
As reported by BBC Sport, the Lamborghini they were in veered off the road while attempting to overtake another vehicle due to a tyre blowout and subsequently caught fire.
“I had to make an effort to perform for the team and assist them in winning the game, regardless of the challenges I faced,” Alexander-Arnold stated to DAZN.”Despite the difficulty of the task, I needed to motivate myself to concentrate on my responsibilities and role.
I endeavored to execute my duties to the best of my ability, but it was challenging, and I will not deny that. Later that day, another former Liverpool teammate of Jota, Alexander-Arnold, 26, played in Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Club World Cup quarter-finals held in New Jersey.
Following the match, the England international acknowledged that it had been “incredibly challenging” to process the news of Jota’s passing.
A joint funeral for Silva and Jota took place in Gondomar, Portugal, on Saturday (July 5), attended by several of Jota’s Liverpool teammates, including Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, and Alexis MacAllister, along with head coach Arne Slot and former Reds captain.
Tributes from the football community flooded in as the news spread, with all the clubs Jota had been associated with issuing heartfelt tributes, alongside messages from ex-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and many others.