Key Points
- Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp led team's emotional Premier League win in support of Luis Diaz amid family crisis.
- Diaz's absence due to his parents' kidnapping in Colombia triggered an outpouring of solidarity from Liverpool.
- Colombia's president reports rescue of Diaz's mother, father still missing.
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp says the team felt they were fighting in their Premier League win over Nottingham Forest to show their support for Luis Diaz because of the striker's personal plight.
Reds forward Luis Diaz did not feature in the Premier League clash at Anfield after reports that his parents had been kidnapped in Colombia, with Klopp saying the player had returned home to be with family members.
Liverpool confirmed an "ongoing situation involving the family of Luis Diaz" earlier on Sunday and Colombia's president said Diaz's mother "has been rescued" but his father remains missing.
Diogo Jota raised Diaz's jersey aloft to support his teammate during Liverpool's win over Forest.
After the 3-0 victory, Klopp said: "The game preparation was the most difficult I've ever had in my life. I didn't expect that, I wasn't prepared for it.
"I don't want to make the game bigger than it was, but, definitely, we tried to help Luis with the fight we put in because obviously we want to help and we cannot really help.
"So the only thing we can do is fight for him - and that's what the boys did."
But Klopp said: "How can you make a football game really important on a day like this? It's really difficult. I've never struggled with that in my life.
"We heard late last night about it. We spoke to Luis, he wanted to go home ...Then we got the news with his mum, which is fantastic, and since then nothing really.
"We are obviously the first people to get involved and we try to have knowledge of everything as much as we can, but we don't want to disturb in any way the important people there, we just want to support, that's it."
Liverpool said in a statement that they were supporting the player.
"Liverpool Football Club can confirm it is aware of an ongoing situation involving the family of Luis Diaz in Colombia," said the statement.
"It is our fervent hope that the matter is resolved safely and at the earliest possible opportunity. In the meantime, the player's welfare will continue to be our immediate priority."
Colombia's president Gustavo Petro said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "In an operation in Barrancas, Luis Diaz's mother has been rescued, we continue the search for the father."
Liverpool signed Diaz from Porto in January 2022 in an initial £37.5 million ($71.8 million) deal that included a potential extra £12.5 million ($23.9 million) in add-ons.
