Under the microscope
KEEPERS ARE GOING TO HAVE THEIR HANDS FULL IN FINAL
Goalkeepers Loris Karius of Liverpool and Real Madrid’s Keylor Navas have the onerous task of keeping the score down when the two most prolific sides in the Champions League this season meet in Saturday’s final in Kiev.
Spearheaded by the free-scoring Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah, both teams are packed with attacking talent, while at the other end of the field Karius and Navas have often been pinpointed as weak links.
Despite playing their part to get to the final, doubts remain over who will be No 1 at Anfield and the Santiago Bernabeu next season.
“Do I think that he should be changed? Probably,” said former Liverpool defender Phil Thompson on Karius’s future.
“Real Madrid will look at Karius and think he is a weak link when we get to the final, I’m sure of that,” added another Liverpool European Cup winner of the past, Mark Lawrenson.
Karius, 24, has started all 12 of Liverpool’s Champions League matches since the start of the group stages, recording a competition-high six clean sheets.
However, he played second fiddle behind Simon Mignolet in the Premier League until January.
Bought from Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp’s former club Mainz in 2016, the German was expected to replace the much-questioned Mignolet long before.
But after breaking his hand in his first pre-season, he struggled badly in his debut campaign and was dropped after just 10 Premier League appearances.
“If he was not a good goalkeeper I would be the biggest idiot in world football if I line him up. Maybe a few people think I am, but he is an outstandingly skilled goalkeeper,” argued Klopp after putting his faith back in Karius after the turn of the year.
But for a matter of seconds that changed his life, Navas could also have ended up in England.
The Costa Rican was intended to be Madrid’s makeweight in the move that brought David de Gea from Manchester United in 2015.
Instead, that deal was not completed in time and Navas has gone on to be a two-time Champions League winner.
Despite Madrid’s success, though, Navas has never been able to shake off speculation every season that he could be replaced.
Navas’ case was not helped by errors to concede goals against Juventus as Madrid sneaked past the Italian champions in the quarterfinals, and in a first-leg semifinal win at Bayern Munich.
However, he more than made amends with eight saves to repel a second-leg onslaught from Bayern to book Madrid’s place in Kiev. – AFP