Liverpool keeper Loris Karius was “100%” affected by a concussion in their Champions League final loss to Real Madrid, says manager Jurgen Klopp.
Errors by Karius, 25, led to the Spanish side’s first and third goals in their 3-1 victory in Kiev in May.
Karius collided with Sergio Ramos with the score goalless, and five days later was discovered to have “26 of 30 markers for a concussion” in tests.
“We don’t use it as an excuse, we use it as an explanation,” said Klopp.
“For me, it is 100% the explanation [for his performance]. He was influenced by that knock – that is 100%.”
In the days following the final, Karius told fans he was “infinitely sorry” for his performance and he later received death threats, prompting a police investigation.
A week later doctors confirmed he had suffered a concussion during the game but Klopp has not spoken about the injury until now.
“If you ask Loris, he says he didn’t think about it and didn’t use it for a second as an excuse,” added Klopp, whose will take a squad including Karius to face Chester City in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
“From this point of view, from my side everything is fine. We don’t think about that any more and we start completely new.”
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