Jota, the Liverpool forward, and Silva, his brother and professional player for Portuguese side Penafiel, passed away following a road traffic accident in Spain on Thursday morning.

The pair’s deaths have resulted in an outpouring of emotion from across the football world and beyond.

And the Blues head coach began his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Club World Cup quarter-final against Palmeiras with a heartfelt message to the families of Jota and Silva.

He said: ‘It’s a very sad day. I struggle to find the words because it’s very difficult. The feeling that you have is you feel a bit helpless in this kind of situation.

‘The only thing that I can say is all my love to his family and the people who, in this moment, it’s a big tragedy for them.’

Blues winger Pedro Neto was a team-mate of Jota at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Maresca said he would be given support and the choice as to whether he plays in tomorrow’s game.

Maresca added: ‘For Pedro, he is very sad. Probably more than sad, but we are close to Pedro to support him in the moment.

‘It’s completely Pedro’s decision [whether he plays against Palmeiras]. I had a chance this morning with Pedro and we support him. Any decision he takes is the correct one, and we are going to support him in any case.

‘It does not matter if he will be on the pitch or not tomorrow, we will see how he is feeling tomorrow. But in any case, we will support him.’