Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota was likely exceeding the speed limit when his car veered off a motorway in Spain last week, Spanish police revealed on Tuesday. The tragic accident, which also claimed the life of Jota’s younger brother, André Silva, occurred on July 3, just days after the 28-year-old striker had celebrated his wedding.

According to a statement by the Civil Guard, investigators are analysing the tyre marks left on the road, which suggest that Jota may have been driving at a speed beyond the legal limit. “The marks left by one of the vehicle's wheels...everything points to a possible excessive speed beyond the road's speed limit,” the authorities stated. On Spanish motorways, the speed limit is generally capped at 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph). The accident took place on the A-52 highway in the province of Zamora, along a largely straight section of road leading into a bend.

Initial assessments had suggested a tyre blowout while Jota was overtaking another vehicle might have triggered the crash, which ended with the car bursting into flames. On Tuesday, the Civil Guard confirmed that “all the tests conducted so far indicate that the driver of the vehicle was Diogo Jota.”