Hospital confirms Karius got concussion during Champions League final

LIVERPOOL goalkeeper Loris Karius was suffering from concussion when he made two errors in the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid.

Karius was ordered to go for a scan while on holiday in America last week, after Liverpool’s medical staff were concerned about his health. Karius was caught in the head following a collision with Real defender Sergio Ramos in the minutes before inexplicably throwing the ball straight to Karim Benzema, who opened the scoring for the Spanish side.

The German goalkeeper also failed to catch a long-range shot from Gareth Bale late on in the 3-1 defeat, leading to widespread criticism and ridicule.

Ramos was not punished for the incident, although television pictures did show Karius sitting on the f loor, holding his head in the aftermath, indicating to match officials that he had been elbowed.

It has since emerged that Liverpool’s medical staff feared he had taken a blow that was hard enough for him to suffer a concussion and a hospital in the US has confirmed that was the case.

Karius f lew to the US on holiday on his return to England from Kiev, but the club were determined to follow the correct head-injury assessments and told him to go to hospital. That scan took place in Boston on May 31 where he reportedly visited head injury specialist Dr Ross Zafonte at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr Zafonte is a leading expert in treating NFL players who have suffered head trauma and Karius was sent to visit him following consultation with Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group.

“After reviewing game film and integrating a detailed history – including his reported present and immediate post-contact symptoms – physical examination and objective metrics, we have concluded that Mr Karius sustained a concussion -during the match May 26, 2018,” read a hospital statement.

“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.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)