Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius suffered concussion during the Champions League final, doctors in the United States have confirmed.
Karius underwent scans at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and medical staff believe the concussion sustained during the final affected his performance in Kiev.
A statement on the hospital’s website read: “After carefully reviewing game film and integrating a detailed history – including his reported present and immediate post-contact subjective symptoms – physical examination and objective metrics, we have concluded that Mr. Karius sustained a concussion during the match May 26, 2018.
“At the time of our evaluation, Mr. Karius’s principal residual symptoms and objective signs suggested that visual spatial dysfunction existed and likely occurred immediately following the event.
“Additional symptomatic and objectively noted areas of dysfunction also persisted. It could be possible that such deficits would affect performance.
Karius left the field in tears after Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat“We also note that Mr. Karius has reported significant and steady improvement since the concussive event, and we expect him to make a full recovery based on the results of the examination.”
Karius collided with Sergio Ramos during a Real Madrid corner early in the second half, and moments later he was at fault for Karim Benzema’s goal.
The 24-year-old also erred for Madrid’s third goal, failing to deal with Gareth Bale’s long-range shot as the Spaniards ran out 3-1 winners.
Liverpool’s medical staff were worried Karius may have suffered concussion and arranged a scan while he holidayed in the US.
Karius, who missed out on a place in Germany’s World Cup squad, apologised to Liverpool supporters for his mistakes in the final.
“I know that I messed it up with the two mistakes and let you all down,” he said. “As I said, I’d just like to turn back the time but that’s not possible. It’s even worse as we all felt that we could have beaten Real Madrid and we were in the game for a long time.”
