Reds’ Loan Ranger off to Besiktas

Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius has insisted he did not join Besiktas on loan to escape Merseyside after his nightmare in the Champions League final.

The 25-year-old German made two costly mistakes in the second-half of Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Kiev last May.

First, the pass he threw clipped Karim Benzema and went into the Reds’ net to give Madrid the opening goal, then he let a long-range Gareth Bale shot slip through his hands for Madrid’s third.

However, days after the defeat it emerged Karius had suffered a concussion when elbowed by Sergio Ramos during an off-the-ball incident before his errors.

Despite the backing of head coach Jurgen Klopp, Karius left Liverpool in August for a twoyear loan deal at Besiktas after the Reds signed Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker from Roma for £65m (R1.2bn).

Karius insists he neither ran away nor has a problem with Klopp.

“I have no problem with

I could have stayed and played a few games, but I wanted to be number one

Jurgen Klopp, in fact we have a great relationship, he never blamed me [for the mistakes in Kiev],” Karius told a daily German newspaper.

“I could have stayed and played a few games, but I wanted to be number one.

“Nobody told me to leave Liverpool and I didn’t run away.

“I am at an age where I need to play regularly. After Alisson Becker’s transfer I decided to move to Istanbul.

“The pressure got so big at some points from the media and the public that Liverpool had to react, which was not good for my situation, but that happens in football.”

The German says despite thinking about the Kiev final every day for weeks afterwards, he has made peace with what happened.

“I can’t undo it and I have finished with it.

“It was a great season that ended with a very unlucky ending.”

Karius refuses to blame the elbow he took in the face from Ramos for the mistakes he made, but admits it was a factor on the night.

“Under normal circumstances, I cannot really explain the mistakes.”