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The goalkeeper says he hit 'rock bottom' after making two major mistakes in the biggest game in European football.

Loris Karius has spoken about the crisis of confidence that followed his nightmare display for Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final, a spell that left him in a two-year slump and almost pushed him to quit football.

The goalkeeper was responsible for two of Real Madrid's goals in their 3-1 win over the Reds in Kyiv.

Karius first rolled the ball on to the outstretched leg of Karim Benzema, with the effort deflecting into the net to give Real the opening goal; then, after being beaten by a superb Gareth Bale bicycle kick that he could do nothing about, Karius spilled a routine save into his own net to hand Bale a second goal.

After the match, manager Jurgen Klopp said Karius' performance had been '100% influenced' by a concussion he suffered during the game, most likely from a Sergio Ramos elbow just before the first goal.

Even so, Alisson's arrival a few weeks later effectively marked the end of Karius' Liverpool career, with the goalkeeper then going out on loan to Besiktas and Union Berlin over the next three seasons before being released and later signing for Newcastle United.

Karius told Welt.de that his two years away from Liverpool in Istanbul were dark days for him.

He said: "Up until that point, my career had been on a steep upward trajectory, then I suddenly crashed – all the way to rock bottom.

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"It was extremely tough, especially since at the time, in my mid-20s, I wasn't as settled as I am now.

"Quite honestly, during that period, I lost my love for football. I no longer wanted to train, no longer wanted to play."

Without naming anyone, Karius suggests that when he looked for support, he was 'told that he played for a great club, had a great apartment, and earned good money' - in effect, 'shut up and get on with it'.

Karius said: "I didn't care about any of that. I was just miserable and felt like I had no one who could help me out of that hole. They were difficult years."

"I just felt empty. I even considered ending my career, but I was only 25 years old and couldn’t just stay home.

"During that period, I felt like nobody understood me."

Now at Schalke, Karius has rediscovered his form and last year helped the club finish top of 2. Bundesliga to end their three-year stay in the German second division.