Diogo Jota tribute ‘powerful’ as Liverpool players deal with emotion – Arne Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was pleased with how his players dealt with an emotional night as Anfield remembered Diogo Jota in a 4-2 Premier League opening win over Bournemouth.

The Portugal striker died in a car crash with his brother Andre Silva six weeks ago and his family were back at Anfield to see the outpouring of emotion which left Mohamed Salah, scorer of the fourth goal, in tears at the final whistle.

“The main emotion I think should be how impressive and how powerful the tribute for Diogo was,” said Slot.

“The banner that the Kop showed, the way ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was sung, the way they sung the song for Diogo before the game, in the first minute, after 20 minutes, after the game. It was all so, so impressive and so powerful.

“And then there was even a game that ended in 4-2 where a lot of things happened.

“I actually didn’t want to go in after the game because I found it so special, how our fans reacted today.

“I think Mo felt, after the game, how special that was. He probably also felt the emotion because we all knew his (Jota’s) family is here, his wife is here, his children are here.

“For them, it might be special to hear how much he is loved over here. What the fans did. But we also feel the emotions of how much grief they still have.

“That mixed emotions maybe led to Mo being emotional. I think I felt the same without being in tears, but I definitely felt the same emotions.”

On the football front Slot believes Federico Chiesa has a future at the club after the almost-forgotten Italy international came off the bench to score their decisive third goal.

The forward, who barely played in his first season after struggling with fitness, volleyed home in the 88th-minute after seeing his team-mates