By Michael Kachitsa
Loris Karius has confirmed he was subject to death threats after putting in a nightmare display in the 2018 Champions League final. The Liverpool goalkeeper made two huge errors which led to goals for Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale as the Reds were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid in Kiev.
It later emerged that Karius had played most of the second half with concussion after a challenge from Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos. Karius received widespread online abuse in the weeks that followed the match, despite being backed by Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.
However, Klopp opted to sign Alisson from Roma to replace Karius as first-choice keeper at Anfield.
Karius then joined Besiktas on a two-year loan spell, and he remains in Turkey until the end of this season. Karius is likely to return to Liverpool in the summer having struggled for form in Turkey, however, it’s not clear if he has a future with the Premier League winners.
Karius said: “I primarily write with goalkeeper coach John Achterberg. Almost weekly, he is my first point of contact.
“But now and then I also write with Jurgen Klopp, I am in good contact with everyone. I was never out of it.
“The fact is that I have a contract in Liverpool until 2022. And at the moment I’m just concentrating on the season at Besiktas. “It is far too early to say anything about summer. Especially now that nobody knows exactly what to do because of the coronavirus.”