Liverpool keeper's heartbreaking gesture to fans
Loris Karius has had his hurdles as Liverpool’s goalkeeper, but he will never reach a point lower than the Champions League final on Saturday.
The German 24-year-old allowed two absolute howlers to Real Madrid in a 3-1 loss that ended the Reds’ marvelous run one win short of UEFA’s top prize. By the end of the match, it was quite clear that Karius knew just what kind of history he had entered.
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Loris Karius’ awful Champions League final
The scoring in the final began with a bizarre goal from Karim Benzema right after halftime, when Karius attempted to throw the ball after scooping it front of the attacker. Benzema stuck out his right foot and somehow managed to hit the ball. Soon, Real Madrid had its first goal.
Footage later appeared of Sergio Ramos possibly elbowing Karius in the head moments before his blunder.
After allowing a completely legitimate goal to Gareth Bale on a spectacular bicycle kick, the demons returned for Karius on another ball from Bale later in the second half. Bale launched what should have easily been a catchable ball, but Karius badly misread the trajectory and could only watch it sail past him.
Liverpool might have already faced a possibly impossible hill to climb with the loss of Mohamed Salah early in the game, but Karius’ errors ended up putting the game away for Real Madrid.
It takes immense gutts and character to own up to your mistakes and take responsibility for them… More importantly, to go and apologise and ask for forgiveness shows true sportsmanship. Loris Karius, you just won an admirer. Chin up! We are all just human. pic.twitter.com/jELsBU2hsr
— Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan) May 26, 2018
Feel sorry for Karius but it’s how you bounce back I have been there it’s a dark place to be I hope he comes through it
Stay strong
Believe in yourself
Goalkeepers Union— Neville Southall (@NevilleSouthall) May 26, 2018
Karius: "My mistakes have lost the team the final. I’m sorry… sorry to everyone."
— Anfield HQ (@AnfieldHQ) May 26, 2018
Got to feel for Loris Karius.
He's going to be crucified now, but at least he had the guts to man up & say sorry to Liverpool fans.
I respect that. #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/MunMgl6mje— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 26, 2018
Loris Karius post-match reaction
By the end of the match, Karius was, as you might expect, absolutely sobbing and apologizing to Liverpool fans in the stands through tears.
Karius in tears, apologizes to Liverpool fans pic.twitter.com/sU3za6UaIu
— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) May 26, 2018
After the match, an inconsolable Karius didn’t hold back on how he believed he influenced the match. Per The Telegraph, Karius said his “mistakes have lost the team the final,” and that he was “sorry to everyone.”
Reactions to Lorius Karius’ performance
Karius’ manager Jurgen Klopp did his best his best to shield Karius per The Telegraph again, but couldn’t deny how regrettable the performance was.
“It’s a shame it was in a game like this, after a season like this. I really feel for him, a fantastic boy.”
“The second one is because of the first one. It’s really difficult to get rid of bad thoughts you have in your mind.”
Somewhat notable is that while multiple Real Madrid players made their way over to console the opposing goalkeeper on the pith, no players from Liverpool, the team with the motto “You’ll never walk alone,” were anywhere in sight around Karius.
As for social media, Karius was one of the top trending topics in the United Kingdom on Twitter and the reactions were about what you’d expect, ranging from jokes to frothing rage. Many public figures in soccer were sympathetic and tried to remind fans that Karius is human, but that’s not going to stop his performance from lingering in the memories of many, most of all the goalkeeper himself.