It was revealed yesterday that Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius suffered a concussion during his side’s 3-1 UEFA Champions League Final loss to Real Madrid. The Karius diagnosis was made while he was on holiday in the United States, and after the fact. Some are skeptical about this medical finding, including Chelsea/Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The injury was suffered when Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos collided with Karius during the match, and the impact caused the Reds number one to fall to the pitch.
Karius had a nightmarish outing in the UCL Final, as he committed two terribly inexplicable gaffes that led many to blame him for the Reds loss. The outrage against Karius has been so strong that his future at Liverpool is thought to be uncertain. As for Ramos, the backlash against him, not just for his incident with Karius but also his altercation with Mohamed Salah, has been extreme.
Ramos remains unrepentant about it however. As for Courtois, he views the Karius diagnosis as sounding like a convenient excuse for the Reds’ shot stopper putting in a dreadful performance.
In making his statements, Courtois recalled his own experience with a concussion from an October 2014 clash with Arsenal.
“It happened to me with Alexis Sanchez,” the Belgian said.
“I had a concussion and I couldn’t see the ball, so after 20 minutes I went out of the game because I couldn’t see the ball.”
“I feel sorry for what happened with him, but to blame it on concussion that he made those mistakes — he also made two amazing saves. So that was luck then? I don’t know because he couldn’t see the ball.”
“It’s unfortunate for him to have made those mistakes but if you have concussion you will leave the game or the doctors will tell you, ‘Look, you cannot see clearly anymore, you must leave the game.’
“If they want to say it’s because of that, it’s OK. He said after the game he made two mistakes, I think everyone will accept that. It can happen as a goalkeeper but to blame it on a concussion now, I find it strange. But if medics say that from Boston, it’s OK.”
Karius has not publicly responded to the statements made by Courtois as of yet.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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