Liverpool Teammates arrive to pay tribute to Diogo Jota: This member of The Royal Family joins the Heartfelt Ceremony will make you stunned!

Diogo Jota’s heartbroken Liverpool teammates past and present flew to Portugal to pay their respects to their fallen friend on Friday.

The players were given a round of applause by local mourners as they passed through the streets of Gondomar to the Chapel of the Resurrection, Portuguese newspaper Record reported.

A number of the present squad visited the chapel where the bodies of Jota and his brother Andre lay at rest, including Virgil Van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, Federico Chiesa, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and manager

A handful of Liverpool alumni also made the trip, among them Brighton‘s James Milner and Ajax’s Jordan Henderson. The latter jetted to Portugal after paying a heartfelt tribute during a tearful return to Anfield earlier in the day.

Henderson was Jota’s captain when the Portuguese star arrived at the club in September 2020, the pair quickly developing a close friendship, and the England international was left in a state of disbelief by the news of his death.

Throughout the afternoon, hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Gondomar to pay tribute to the Liverpool striker and his brother at the city’s chapel.

Fans snaked around the Portuguese principality as the tearful crowd queued to honour the footballer before his funeral on Saturday – alongside a host of Premier League stars including Manchester City icon Bernando Silva, Manchester United‘s Diogo Dalot and Nottingham Forest‘s Jota Silva.

Liverpool’s chief executive of football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes also flew in to lead a club delegation at the wake.

Liverpool teammates past and present flew to Portugal to pay their respects, including Virgil Van Dijk (left), Alexis Mac Allister (centre, with hands in pocket) and Andy Robertson (second from right)

The players were given a round of applause by locals as they passed through the streets of Gondomar to Jota’s wake

Many of the players appeared in a state of shock, with past teammates like Ajax’s Jordan Henderson (centre) also present

Liverpool star Darwin Nunez, a teammate of Diogo Jota, attends the wake with partner Lorena Manas

Hundreds queue to pay respects to Diogo Jota

Mourners sobbed and carried roses and national team scarves in homage to Jota, who won the UEFA Nations League with Portugal less than a month ago.

Aerial footage showed queues stretching from the small chapel, around the corner to the nearby church where his funeral will be held.

Diogo Jota’s heartbroken wife and parents gathered at a wake and held a vigil at the coffins of the former Wolves striker and his brother Andre as the world of football mourned their deaths today.

Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso, who only married the 28-year-old footballer last month on June 22, walked into Sao Cosme Chapel in Gondomar after returning with her husband’s body from Spain late last night.

The city overlooking Porto is where the couple met and started dating as teenagers. They married less than two weeks ago and have three young children.

It is believed the bodies of Diogo and Andre Silva are lying in the Chapel of Rest, which is behind the main church. It came as Diogo’s friend, former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, wiped away tears as he laid flowers and a scarf outside Anfield this afternoon.

Diogo and Andre’s mother Isabel, father Joaquim and their grandfather were emotional on arriving at the chapel. Joaquim hugged several people and was supported by his brother and later raised a hand to mourners as he left with his wife. They returned around an hour later.

Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro also attended the wake along with Diogo’s agent Jorge Mendes. The President of Portugal, Marcelo de Sousa, came later.

The mood outside Sao Cosme Chapel was one of respectful silence and contemplation today. There is a major police presence and officers taped off roads and installed barriers near the church. Even on the streets beyond, in the restaurants and cafes of this Porto suburb, the mood is subdued and silent.

Father-of-three Diogo Jota was killed in the early hours of yesterday morning along with his footballer brother Andre Silva, 26.

Their acid green 200mph £180,000 Lamborghini Huracan burst into flames after a suspected tyre blowout on the A-52 highway near Zamora in north-west Spain. No other vehicles were involved, police have said.

The brothers were on a road trip to the northern Spanish port city of Santander to catch a ferry to the UK after the Liverpool player and Portuguese international was advised not to travel by plane following lung surgery.

Family members were filmed embracing each other as they broke down in tears before walking together towards the chapel.

The wake proper is set to start around 4pm, with Portugal’s president Marcelo de Sousa confirming he will be among those arriving at that time to pay their last respects ahead of a funeral mass in the neighbouring church – the Igrega Matriz de Gondomar – at 10am tomorrow.

It is not yet clear how public the wake will be. The chapel and neighbouring church are around a half-hour drive from the church in Porto where Diogo and his wife got married less than two weeks ago.

Local priest Jose Manuel Macedo initially revealed the funeral would take place at 4pm today before confirming yesterday evening it had been put back to tomorrow morning.

‘We’re available to celebrate [their life] with everyone and to share the pain and the Christian hope,’ Macedo told CNN.