The noise of Kyiv It never went out completely. TO Loris Karius They pointed him out for that final of Champions of 2018 against Real Madrid, two mistakes that cost Liverpool the title and haunted them for years. From there, the fall was long. Transfers, few minutes and a constant feeling of being far from your place. Between 2020 and 2024 he barely added five official matches: four with Unión Berlin and one with Newcastle.
The slowdown was even greater in 2024. He was left without a team for six months and retirement appeared as a real option. “I had doubts about my performance, because there are things that one cannot change. Of course I doubted if I would have another opportunity to play at this level, if it would work again,” the goalkeeper himself admitted.
Then Schalke 04 appeared. January 2025. A quiet signing, almost against the grain. He arrived as a substitute and ended up taking over the goal. He felt like a footballer again. He enjoyed the ball again. And the team, which was coming off tough years after its relegation in 2023, found unexpected support.
Promotion was secured at home, with a 1-0 win against Fortuna Düsseldorf that unleashed madness in Gelsenkirchen. Schalke is already a Bundesliga team and no one can catch up to them. Karaman’s goal at quarter of an hour marked the way. Karius supported the rest, as so many times this season, appearing when the game was burning the most.
It has been his course. At 32 years old, he recorded 12 clean sheets, the best record in the championship. He stopped penalties, maintained short leads and conveyed a confidence that had not been seen in him for a long time. At his side, the weight of Edin Dzeko and the collective momentum rounded off the return.
The turn is also explained off the field. In the darkest years Diletta Leotta appeared. The Italian presenter, today his pregnant wife and mother of his children, was constant support during the worst moment. In one of his posts, he wrote: “Your victories not only appear on the field, but also in the heart, by the way you fight, by the way you get up and come back. We are proud of you, now and every day. Your biggest fans are here. We love you, Papi.”
Confidence to start again
Karius never completely stopped believing. “I was pretty sure I could get the result, but the main question was whether I would get another chance or not, whether anyone would trust me again,” he admitted. Schalke did. And he answered.
The final whistle in Gelsenkirchen found him hugging his people, celebrating like someone returning home after too long a trip. The stands chanting his name, he pointing to the shield. And that image, that of a goalkeeper who got back up when it seemed impossible, remaining floating in the air of a night that is now part of his history.