Karius considers retiring after UCL final clanger he still hasn’t recovered from

LORIS KARIUS has revealed he found it difficult to recover from his Champions League final and is considering retirement.

The former Liverpool goalkeeper was left inconsolable after making a pair of high-profile mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid in Kyiv at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium.

Scans at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after the match showed he had suffered a concussion after an off-ball collision with Sergio Ramos.

However, Karius was subjected to horrific messages and death threats for months.

And the German, now 31, has revealed how he felt he was failing to gain the trust of new managers in training, no matter how much work he put in.

Speaking to SPORTBible, he said: “It was hard to shake. Even at other clubs, when I was trying to gain a manager's trust or get playing time, when I felt like I deserved…

“There have definitely been times when I thought this was my disadvantage.

“It may not even be the manager's fault, but when you know you have a player who will attract so much attention, it will increase the pressure.

“They probably thought, 'I'll take the easy and safe way instead of the other route.'

“In some ways you can understand it, but it's frustrating when you can't do much else to change their mind.”

Karius was the club's number one goalkeeper at the time of the final, with Jürgen Klopp publicly supporting him by presenting him with the number 1 shirt prior to the match.

Klopp's faith meant everything to him, but Karius says he had to try to make a fresh start after the mistakes, away from the criticism.

He said: “My confidence took a hit in the days afterwards and in the preparation, for sure. Everything I did was being watched. It was so extreme. It was all a bit too much.”

“I tried not to pay interest, but you couldn't avoid it. You still notice it. People tell you. I was confronted with it all the time.

“And that's why I wanted a fresh start instead of staying at Liverpool, where I could have stood behind Alisson and still got playing time.

“Maybe that would have been the better step in the end, but it's difficult to say at that stage.”

Karius was loaned out to Besiktas in Turkey over the next two seasons, where he made 67 appearances.

He describes his time there as “turbulent” with “a lot of chaos”, which was partly due to having to sue his own club because he “didn't get paid for five or six months”.

However, in the 2020/21 season, Karius was loaned out to Bundesliga side Union Berlin but only played five games.

He added: “I thought it would be different. I thought I could go to Turkey, reset and make a fresh start.

“But it became even more turbulent. I found myself in a country I had never been to before. I didn't speak the language and was alone most of the time.

“I wasn't in a good mental space. There was no one to talk to, not even the coaches, because they only spoke Turkish.

“There was no one to help. I was just very relieved when I could leave. That was probably the hardest time of my career.

“From that moment on it went downhill step by step. If you haven't had playing time for a year or two, it doesn't become any easier to get back into goal at the highest level.”

Karius then did not play in the 2021/22 season, with his Reds contract ultimately expiring in 2022 before Newcastle picked him up on free agency, with whom he stayed for two years as a back-up goalkeeper.

He eventually played for them twice, including in the 2023 Carabao Cup final against Manchester United, when Nick Pope was suspended and the Martin Dubravka Cup was tied.

After making his second appearance in a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal last season – a season in which he “expected or hoped to play games” – Karius is now without a club.

Despite the challenges he faced years later, Karius has been able to reflect and find positives from the darkest moment of his career.

He said: “It was a game. I've made a few mistakes. I probably got injured doing that.

“What am I going to learn from this? To not make the same mistake next time? Or to signal when I have received the blow? That is not easy.

“But the experience has made me stronger as a person. It's part of my story. It's part of my history. Ultimately, I was a Liverpool player. I reached the Champions League final.”

“It didn't go the way I wanted, but less than one percent of professional football players play a Champions League final. We have done great things. You can't deny that.”

His time as a free agent allowed Karius to pursue his passion for music, walk the runway for Hugo Boss at Milan Fashion Week in September and spend time watching his daughter grow.

Karius married Italian TV presenter Diletta Leotta in June this year after meeting in 2022.

Leotta gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl named Aria, on August 16, 2023.

Speaking about his future, Karius revealed that he had had offers from Saudi Arabia and Italian teams Roma, Monza and Torino, but wanted a chance to play and did not want to move far away from his family.

He said: “I was hoping to get a good opportunity in the summer where I would get a chance to play again.

“I could get that somewhere else, but I still have expectations of what level I want to play at. I have to be honest with myself and not go somewhere where I might not feel comfortable.

“For example, I chose not to go to Saudi Arabia. Being so far away from my family would have been difficult.

“I talked to teams, but in the end it didn't work out. There were advanced talks with a team in Italy but that didn't happen, which was sad at the time.

“It hasn't been easy, but I can honestly say that I have worked as hard as I can over the past few years. I put a lot of work behind the scenes.

“I've been a top team player, but when it comes to two or three years where you've barely played, it gets really frustrating. You think, 'What else can I do?' I still feel like I have a lot of quality…

“If you've been out as long as I have, then you naturally have to think about retirement.

“I haven't made a decision yet because it's not necessary. I'm still fit. I still have all the potential and capabilities.

“But when a door doesn't open, I have to be honest and say to myself, 'Listen. I have many more things that I can pursue that excite me; that I enjoy and that I put effort into.'

“I don't think it would hit me that hard because I've been through this process for the past few years.”