Life really does move fast. Too fast at times.

Just a few days after his burial, Liverpool were left with no choice other than to prod on with life as they celebrated the late Diogo Jota's life, where he was hailed "a champion" by Liverpool manager Arne Slot as the Reds returned to the field for the first time since the Portuguese's death, defeating Preston 3-1 in a pre-season friendly.

Father of three Jota died alongside his brother Andre Silva on July 3, 11 days after marrying his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, after their car came off the road and burst into flames in northern Spain.

A rendition of Liverpool's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" was played before kick-off at Deepdale and Preston captain Ben Whiteman laid a wreath in front of the away supporters.

A minute's silence was then observed and both teams wore black armbands.

Jota was part of the Liverpool side that won the Premier League last season and in his final match won the Nations League with Portugal against Spain in June.

"I think what I take comfort in is that in the last month of his life he was a champion in everything," Slot said in an interview ahead of the match. A champion for his family, which is the main and most important thing, because he got married.

"A champion for his country because he won the Nations League with a country that he cared about so much, because he also wore the flag when we had celebrations. And of course a champion for us by winning the Premier League, he told AFP.

Mohamed Salah was among the Liverpool starting line-up and captain for the day as Virgil van Dijk was left out of the playing squad but was still in attendance.

Three of the players who travelled to Gondomar, just outside Porto, for Jota's funeral last weekend, Conor Bradley, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, scored the goals in Liverpool's first steps back towards normality.

Multiple renditions of Jota's song, proclaiming him to be better than Portugal legend Figo, were belted out by the Liverpool support before a ball was even kicked.

In the crowd, flags emblazoned with "forever our number 20" paid tribute to the man who died aged just 28.