MANCHESTER UNITED legend Gary Neville revealed he had an awkward run-in with ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius shortly after slamming him with some brutal criticism.
Karius, 31, spent six years at Anfield after his arrival from Mainz in 2016 but couldn’t establish himself as Jurgen Klopp’s No1 and that led to loan stints at Besiktas and Union Berlin before his exit.
The German’s time with the Merseysiders effectively came to an end after the 2018 Champions League final where two major howlers led to goals for Real Madrid who won 3-1 in Kiev.
The former Newcastle keeper gave the ball away to Karim Benzema, who opened the scoring, and failed to hold on to a powerful shot by Gareth Bale.
However, it was later revealed that the ex-Germany international was playing with a concussion after a collission with Real captain Sergio Ramos moments before Benzema’s opener.
Nevertheless, Neville, 49, didn’t hold back on his criticism of Karius as he insisted Klopp’s side would never win the Premier League with him between the sticks – he seemingly didn’t know about the concussion.
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A while later, though, the Sky Sports pundit bumped into the German in a gym while visiting Italy and feared an intense confrontation after his fiery assessment of his Champions League final performance.
Instead, Karius showed immense class by simply shaking the ex-England international’s hand and greeted him with respect.
That left the Man Utd hero with a red face as he immediately felt “guilty” and realised he was too harsh on the keeper.
Neville told The Overlap: “Karius, the Liverpool goalkeeper, the young lad – I’ve been quite direct about him for a period of two to three months.
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“Liverpool were getting closer and better under Jurgen Klopp and I remember saying that they’ll never ever win the league with that guy in the net.
“It’s a strong line that to a young goalkeeper. It was probably true in the element of about five months later he made the mistake in the Champions League final.
“I go to Italy to this hotel. I walked into the gym for a session and there was just this big bloke lifting massive weights – it’s Karius!
“He could have done many things there and could have had a go at me. It went right through my head on what I said about him, and I know he would’ve known that.
“But he shook my hand and said, ‘Nice to see you’ and I felt guilty bumping into someone I’ve given a harsh line to.”
Liverpool splashed the cash for a new goalkeeper after the final and bought Alisson for a record £67million fee.
The Brazilian helped the Reds win the Champions League in 2019 and their first Premier League title in 30 years in 2020.
Karius is currently a free agent after two uneventful years at Newcastle where he amassed only two appearances.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
