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Diogo Jota's family was present as Liverpool and Wolves, the two main clubs of his senior career, met for the first time since his death last July
Virgil van Dijk said that it was "an absolute honor" to walk out with Diogo Jota's children at Anfield ahead of Liverpool's game against Wolves in the Premier League.
Jota spent eight years playing in England – three seasons at Wolves, and five seasons at Liverpool – and Saturday's meeting was the first between Jota's two former sides since the player's death in July.
The occasion was marked by Jota's sons, Dinis and Duarte, as well as other family members, leading the Liverpool team out against Wolves.
After the game, Van Dijk said: "It was an absolute honor to have the boys with me and Ali [Becker] as well together. I think it was something I was really looking forward to.
READ MORE: Diogo Jota's children walk out with Liverpool players ahead of Wolves clashREAD MORE: Pep Guardiola fires reminder to Man City's rivals in Premier League title warning"Obviously after discussions with Rute [Diogo's wife] and the family it was really something I looked forward to. It was going to be emotional, but I think it's something that the boys will remember forever.
"Hopefully there's more to come in the future for them and they can keep enjoying Liverpool because Liverpool is the place that's very big to their hearts and Diogo will always stay with us forever.
"I was very proud to have them with us and the fans I think appreciated that as well."
In the 20th minute, there were chants of 'Diogo' from the Wolves end, which drew applause from the Liverpool fans. The Kop then led the now-customary rendition of Jota's Anfield song, with the traveling supporters clapping along.
Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring and celebrated by mimicking Jota's Baby Shark celebration.
Ahead of the game, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot looked ahead to welcoming Jota's family to Anfield. He wrote in his program notes: "It is not my place to tell them where they should look for comfort — if that is even possible — but I can only hope that the feeling of love and affection that Diogo still generates brings them some solace.
"The sense of loss will be particularly strong on Saturday, of course, as it will be the first time that Diogo's two English teams will meet since his tragic passing.
"Like us, Wolves were clearly very affected by the loss of such a special player and person so my thoughts continue to be with them also."
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