Carabao Cup final: Loris Karius’ final failings to a chance of final glory

Even in his most lucid moments of hope, the goalkeeper cannot have envisaged the latest twist in his life. On Saturday night it became apparent that he would be in Newcastle’s starting XI for their first cup final since 1999.

When Nick Pope appeared to suffer a momentary brain freeze for Newcastle against Liverpool, instinctively putting a protective left hand around the ball way outside his penalty area after misjudging an Alisson clearance, Karius went from being history to having the chance to create it, with Newcastle not having won a domestic trophy since 1955.

The 29-year-old had trained at Newcastle’s Benton complex earlier on Saturday and has not even travelled to many away games this season. He was signed because Martin Dubravka moved to Manchester United on loan at the start of the season and because Karl Darlow, the back-up to Pope, suffered an injury. Amid the chaos of Pope’s sending-off on Saturday, even Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, had to ask why Dubravka, who had come on as substitute, could not play in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against United.

“He’s cup-tied because he played for Man United in the competition when he was there on loan,” came the reply. “Oh, I see,” Klopp said.

He did not ask about Darlow, who joined Hull City on loan at the very last hour on transfer deadline day.

Klopp was also asked to give a reference for the mentality of Karius, as he had been the German’s manager on that fateful May night when his mistakes contributed to Liverpool losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid in Kyiv in 2018.

“I think you can absolutely rely on him,” Klopp replied. “He’s a great goalie, there’s no doubt about that, that’s why Newcastle signed him.”

Another question. “You had him in 2018 and he struggled after that final, so do you think for his sake this final is a good opportunity?”

“That is what he was working for all the time so yes, absolutely,” came the reply.

It may be slightly harsh on Klopp but his words did not feel effusive and after that 3-1 defeat by Real, Karius never played for Liverpool again.

There can be a brutal nature to the manager-goalkeeper relationship. At Aberdeen, Sir Alex Ferguson won two Scottish league titles, four Scottish Cups, one Scottish League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Jim Leighton in goal, but when Leighton let in three goals for United in the 1990 FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, Ferguson dropped him for the replay and the pair have not spoken since.

Les Sealey, a goalkeeper who had been on loan at Old Trafford since the December but had made only two appearances, was suddenly thrust into the replay at Wembley. Sealey kept a clean sheet as United won 1-0, and went on to become the first-choice goalkeeper the next season.

That carrot is simply not there for Karius, however. This looks like a one-game deal, a chance to write history on that blank sheet of paper and to possibly earn himself a career reprieve, with his 30th birthday coming in June.

Karius has played once for the Newcastle first team, in a friendly during the World Cup break, against Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia. He played for the first 45 minutes, did not concede a goal and was replaced by Mark Gillespie, who has made three appearances for Newcastle; all in the League Cup, all in 2020. They are the two goalkeepers Newcastle now have available for the final.

It was in a foyer after that game that Karius was asked once more about that night in Kyiv, when he threw the ball against the leg of Karim Benzema for Real’s first goal and then dropped Gareth Bale’s long-range shot over his shoulder for the third.

“I have said everything about this,” he said. “For me, it’s tiring to keep talking about it, it’s football and things happen. In my case, there were a lot of unfortunate things, but I don’t think about it any more. Four years in football feels like eight or 12.

“It [the final] made me go to another club [Besiktas]. It was maybe a move that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. My time at Liverpool was over and I was looking to move on.

“I found myself in a situation where I had to stay at Liverpool knowing I wouldn’t get my chance. It was discussed with the manager. There’s no bad blood, but knowing the situation from the start was tough.”

Liverpool signed Alisson for pounds 66 million in the aftermath of that Champions League final defeat and Karius went to Besiktas on a two-year loan deal. There were more errors there, a pay dispute and he then moved to Union Berlin, but played only four times in the Bundesliga. Last season Karius was back at Liverpool and was fifth choice; a demoralising fall before the final weeks of his contract ended and he became a free agent.

“Loris has great experience and that was a reason for taking him on,” Eddie Howe said on Saturday when the Newcastle head coach was asked why he had signed him. “We were obviously looking at a very limited pool of goalkeepers but he was the name that immediately stood out that was free and available, and I don’t think we could have picked a better one. He comes with a wealth of experience.

“He is accustomed to big games. Yes, he hasn’t had competitive action for a long time but he’s fit and ready. These lads [Karius and Gillespie] train every day and play games behind closed doors. I have been impressed with Loris, he is a likeable character, laid back but in his training, focused. Nick has been outstanding but now it is time for someone else to stand up.”

That man is Loris Karius. We are in Roy of the Rovers territory here. Karius has only 45 minutes of football in a friendly in the past two seasons to call on, to prepare himself for the biggest game Newcastle have played for almost a quarter of a century.

It will be dramatic, for better or for worse, but unquestionably there is a chance to write a glorious epitaph to that lonely night in Kyiv.

To be continued, then, as Karius himself would say.

-The Times

Originally published as Carabao Cup final: Loris Karius’ final failings to a chance of final glory