Loris Karius has opened up about his crisis of confidence after his nightmare performance for Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final left him in a two-year funk that nearly saw him quit the game.
The goalkeeper was at fault for two of Real Madrid's goals in their 3-1 victory over the Reds in Kyiv.
Karius first rolled the ball onto the outstretched leg of Karim Benzema, with the ball deflecting into the net to give Real the opener; and after conceding a brilliant Gareth Bale bicycle kick he could do nothing about, Karius dropped a completely routine save into his own net to allow Bale a second goal.
"I lost my love for football. I no longer wanted to train, no longer wanted to play"
Manager Jurgen Klopp said after the game that Karius' performance had been '100% influenced' by a concussion he picked up during the game, most likely from a Sergio Ramos elbow just before the first goal.
However, Alisson's arrival a few weeks later effectively spelt the end of Karius' Liverpool career, with the keeper sent out for loan spells at Besiktas and Union Berlin over the next three seasons before being released and signing for Newcastle United.
Karius told Welt.de that his two years in exile from Liverpool in Istanbul were dark days for him.
He said: "Up until that point, my career had been on a steep upward trajectory, then I suddenly crashed – all the way to rock bottom.
"It was extremely tough, especially since at the time, in my mid-20s, I wasn't as settled as I am now.
"Quite honestly, during that period, I lost my love for football. I no longer wanted to train, no longer wanted to play."
Without naming names, Karius indicates that when he reached out for support, he was 'told that he played for a great club, had a great apartment, and earned good money' - effectively, 'shut up and get on with it'.
Karius said: "I didn't care about any of that. I was just miserable and felt like I had no one who could help me out of that hole. They were difficult years."
"I just felt empty. I even considered ending my career, but I was only 25 years old and couldn’t just stay home.
“During that period, I felt like nobody understood me."
Now at Schalke, Karius has found form again and last year helped the club finish top of 2. Bundesliga to end their three-year spell in the German second tier.
