Thibaut Courtois has cast doubt on the claim that Loris Karius was suffering from a concussion for almost half of the Champions League final.
Reports emerged on Monday that Karius had been sent to a specialist in Boston just days after falling to a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Kiev, with Liverpool concerned that their goalkeeper had sustained a concussion in a clash with Sergio Ramos shortly after half-time.
Massachusetts General Hospital then confirmed that, following inspection, they had found that the German stopper had indeed suffered head trauma prior to his pair of mistakes which allowed both Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale to find the net.
Chelsea ‘keeper Thibaut Courtois sounds like he finds the concussion hard to believe, however, as the Belgium number one has pointed to the fact that Karius pulled off a couple of impressive saves after the collision with Ramos which, according to Courtois, suggests that he had no issue with seeing the ball.
“It happened to me with Alexis Sanchez – I had a concussion and I couldn’t see the ball, so after 20 minutes I went out of the game because I couldn’t see the ball,” Courtois said ahead of Belgium’s final World Cup warm-up game against Egypt.
“I feel sorry for what happened with him, but to blame it on concussion that he made those mistakes – he also made two amazing saves. So that was luck then? I don’t know because he couldn’t see the ball.
“It’s unfortunate for him to have made those mistakes but if you have a concussion you will leave the game or the doctors will tell you, ‘Look, you cannot see clearly anymore, you must leave the game.’
“If they want to say it’s because of that, it’s OK. He said after the game he made two mistakes, I think everyone will accept that. It can happen as a goalkeeper but to blame it on a concussion now, I find it strange. But if medics say that from Boston, it’s OK.”
