Loris Karius suffered terrible abuse after the 2018 Champions League final (Picture: Getty Images)

Loris Karius has hit out at the ‘insane’ death threats he received after Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in 2018 and wishes he had dealt with them ‘more aggressively’ at the time.

The German goalkeeper lined up for the Reds in the monumental clash and two glaring errors cost his side the game as they fell to a 3-1 defeat.

Firstly he tried to roll the ball out, only for it to be intercepted by Karim Benzema, who subsequently scored the opener, before Karius weakly attempted to stop a Gareth Bale shot which ended up in the back of the net.



It later transpired that Karius had suffered a concussion due to an elbow from Real defender Sergio Ramos before he made the first mistake.


The 26-year-old, now on loan at Besiktas, says this did not stop him receiving horrific abuse for his errors and even death threats.

‘There were some of them. But I can’t take that seriously,’ he told Bild.

‘These are people who write anonymously and don’t even show their faces in their profiles. I don’t think when people walk past me personally they can’t open their mouths.

‘Players receive some extremely hostile messages on the internet. If you read every message, you wouldn’t be able to sleep for two days.

Karius made two significant errors in the defeat to Real Madrid (Picture: Getty Images)

‘It’s insane what people come out with under the guise of anonymity, badly insulting others, discriminating against them and then becoming racist.

‘You can’t blame fans if they whistle a player. They pay admission and have the right to be dissatisfied. A professional has to endure that.

‘But if there are personal insults or death threats, the limit is far exceeded.’

Karius kept quiet at the time, but wish he hadn’t as he feels his concussion was not taken into consideration.

‘Believe me, I’ve learned a lot from that!’ he continued. ‘In retrospect, I should have dealt with it publicly much more aggressively. I had a concussion after a blow from Sergio Ramos, which restricted my spatial vision.’

The stopper has been on loan in Turkey for the last two seasons, a regular starter for Besiktas, and says he could still return to Liverpool as his contract runs until 2022 and he is still in contact with the Reds’ coaching staff and management.

‘Now and then I also write with Jurgen Klopp, I am in good contact with everyone. I was never out of it,’ explained the keeper.

‘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.’

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