Loris Karius has admitted he didn’t want to be a footballer anymore after Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in 2018. The German was at fault for two goals as Karim Benzema deflected his wayward throw into the net and he later spilled Gareth Bale’s 40-yard strike into his own goal. Although Karius was later confirmed to have been suffering from a concussion, the errors had a detrimental impact on his career.
Fallout and loans
He never played for Liverpool again, spending the next three seasons on loan at Besiktas and Union Berlin. After sitting out the final year of his contract at Anfield, he joined Newcastle United as a back-up goalkeeper on a free transfer in September 2022.
Karius had to wait until he signed for Schalke in January 2025 to become a first-choice goalkeeper again. Eight years after his Champions League final nightmare in Kiev, the 33-year-old starred as Schalke won promotion back to the Bundesliga as 2. Bundesliga champions. He made 30 league appearances in the 2025/26 campaign, having made only 11 appearances for all his clubs combined since the 2020/21 season.
Rock bottom
Karius admitted he fell out of love with football after his mistakes in Kiev. “At times, I had to force myself to go to work and just tried to get through the day somewhat normally,” he told newspapers belonging to the Funke Media Group, as quoted by Sport Witness. “Even now, I don’t know what I should have done differently. I just felt empty; I even thought about retiring, but I was only 25 years old and couldn’t simply stay at home. During that phase, I felt like no one understood me.
“Up until that point, my career had been on a steep upward trajectory, but then I suddenly came crashing down, hitting rock bottom. It was extremely tough, partly because, being in my mid-twenties at the time, I wasn’t as emotionally grounded as I am today. And quite honestly: during that period, I lost the joy of playing football. I had no desire to train or play anymore.”
