Loris Karius can visualise the wild celebrations, a victorious goalkeeper sprinting towards teammates consumed by joy. It is a stirring image he recalls from childhood - of an idol whose penalty shootout valour secured a place in Champions League legend.

But forget Jerzy Dudek in Istanbul, or Bruce Grobbelaar in Rome. “Oliver Kahn against Valencia in 2001,” says the Liverpool goalkeeper.

“This was the first Champions League game I remember. I was a Bayern fan. I am from a small town in Germany (Biberach an der Riss) - about an hour-and-thirty-minute drive from Munich - so they were the best team when I was growing up.

“I really liked Kahn. I was eight and had just started to become a goalkeeper so he was the one I looked to. To do what he did was my dream as a small boy.”

Man-of-the match Kahn made three saves in the shootout in the San Siro, but no goalkeeper - certainly no Liverpool No 1 - goes into a European final without reminders of Grobbelaar and Dudek’s wobbly knees against Roma and AC Milan. The more introverted Karius is not sure if he can replicate such a party-piece.