Former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius returned to a high-profile cup final when he was handed his Newcastle United debut against Manchester United.
It was the 29-year-old's first competitive start since February 2021 when he featured for Union Berlin while on loan away from the Reds. A lot was made of Karius' return after his two mistakes in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, now almost a full five years ago.
Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale enjoyed the fruits of the German shot-stopper's misfortune. Prior to that, the shot-stopper collided with Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos which left him floor and causing a concussion, it was later revealed. Months later Alisson Becker arrived from AS Roma.
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However, Jurgen Klopp insisted in 2018 during an interview with German news outlet Kicker that the errors in Kyiv weren't the catalyst to bring the Brazilian international to Anfield which usurped him as Liverpool's first choice.
"I didn't tell Loris what he wanted to hear, but that is how it is," he said.
"The Champions League final had nothing to do with us getting Alisson. Even if he had won it and Alisson would have been on the market we would have still signed him.
"And how the people reacted negatively to Karius after the final, by trying to isolate him, that almost made me not sign Alisson and rather stick it out with Karius. But we had to be professional, our job is to have the best players in every position."
The errors unfortunately didn't stop there as an error led to a goal against Chester in a pre-season friendly. Prior to that, Klopp insisted that following the concussion ruling, it was time to stand afresh.
"That’s how it is," he said. "You make a mistake against Chester and it’s a mistake. If you make a mistake in a Champions League final, it’s a mistake you cannot change anymore, even if you want to – and we all want to.
"He was influenced by that knock, that is 100 per cent. What the rest of the world is making of it, I don’t care. It’s really not important what the people say. We do not use it as an excuse.
"Now people could think for us it is the explanation – and for me it is 100% the explanation and that’s all."
Klopp added: "If you ask Loris, he says he didn’t think about it and didn’t use it for a second as an excuse. We don’t use it as an excuse, we use it as an explanation. That’s always important, that’s what analysis should be: you explain why things happen. So, from this point of view, from my side everything is fine. We don’t think about that anymore and we start completely new."
However, Ragnar Klavan, an unused substitute in the final, disagreed with the German over its lasting impact. It would transpire that he wouldn't feature for Liverpool again after loan spells in Turkey and Germany before he was released in the summer.
"For sure (I felt sorry for him). That's the other side," said Klavan. "Things happen, and for him, the biggest magnifying glass in club football was pointed at him. The whole world saw it. It just happened at that time and it's very harsh for him.
"He still needs it (external help). I think that he has not recovered from it. He doesn't think of it every second. I'd say that even before, he wasn't a persona like Oliver Kahn. "No matter what the world thinks, I'm gonna keep on walking." I think so (it hurt him).
"Yes (it hurt me), but he is a team member. He has carried the team out from bad situations before, but now it was reversed. In a team, the situation is never what the world reflects. 'You made a mistake' and so on. The team acknowledges the mistake but you have done good things and will do so in the future as well."
Karius was understandably dejected after the full-time whistle at the NSC Olimpiyskiy and Klopp admitted that he couldn't console his tearful German compatriot.
"I am a strong supporter of the idea of just shutting up if you don't have the right words. And other than a few comforting words I did not have the right words. I did not have a clue what you could say.
"Neither was I angry at him nor was I disappointed in him or something else. I only saw his situation, and everyone would love to have the right words. I didn't have them. And that's why we left it at it that evening but for a few words.
"By now, I [have] talked to him, not only about this. The situation is clear and everything is good."
After his time as a free agent, Karius signed a short-term contract at St James' Park which he made permanent during the January transfer window. Following Nick Pope's red card against Liverpool during their 2-0 defeat, it handed the 29-year-old a Newcastle debut in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United.
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