Merseyside Police has confirmed it is aware of death threats made to Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius in the wake of the club’s 3-1 Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid.
Karius, 24, and his family have been the subject of threats after he made two errors in the final against Real, effectively costing Liverpool the game.
The Spanish side’s first goal came when Karim Benzema charged down an attempted throw by Karius, and the goalkeeper then allowed a tame long-range Gareth Bale shot to slip through his grasp for the third.
“We take social media posts of this nature extremely seriously. Offences will be investigated,” the police said in a short statement.
“Officers are aware of a number of comments and threats made via social media.
“Merseyside Police would like to remind social media users than any offences including malicious communications and threatening behaviour will be investigated.”
Karius said he is “infinitely sorry” for the two costly mistakes and admitted on Sunday that he is struggling to sleep.
He tweeted on Sunday afternoon: “Haven’t really slept until now… the scenes are still running through my head again and again… I’m infinitely sorry to my teammates, for you fans, and for all the staff. I know that I messed it up with the two mistakes and let you all down…
“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…
“Thank you to our unbelievable fans who came to Kiev and held my back, even after the game. I don’t take that for granted and once again it showed me what a big family we are. Thank you and we will come back stronger.”
Karius had earlier told talkSPORT: “I lost my team the game.
“I’m sorry for everyone – from the team, from the whole club – that the mistakes cost dearly.
“If I could go back in time, I would. I feel sorry for my team. I know I let them down.
“It’s very hard right now but that’s the life of a goalkeeper. These goals cost us the title, basically.”
Karius, who has not been selected to represent Germany at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, will benefit from the post-season break as he seeks to come to terms with his errors, according to leading psychologist Professor Cary Cooper.
