When Schalke were seeking guidance on bringing the club back to its previous stature, few would have imagined them finding their answers in Loris Karius. Both the club and the player seemed to hit catastrophic new lows at roughly the same time. While Karius will forever be associated with one of the most infamous performances in Champions League final history - Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in 2018 - Germany’s third-biggest club have been unable to locate anything capable of halting their own dramatic fall from grace.
Over the past 20 seasons, they have played in the Champions League eight times. In 2011, they reached the semi-finals, losing to Manchester United. In 2019, their most recent campaign among Europe’s elite, they made it to the last 16 before being knocked out by Manchester City. Since then, though, they have bounced between the top two tiers of German football, slowly but surely finding their new level in Bundesliga 2.
In January this year, Karius threw in his lot with Schalke, signing on as Justin Heekeren’s understudy after a barren spell at Newcastle United that yielded only two appearances across three seasons as third-choice behind Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka. But what initially looked like yet another reminder of the club’s fallen-giant status has since morphed into an unexpected plot twist. A run of inspired displays from their new No.1 has begun to reshape the narrative for both parties.
schalke karius
Time and again, football’s mortals are reminded of the redeeming power that confidence can inject into a player. That has once more proven true at Schalke with Karius, who has conceded just seven goals in his opening 12 league matches of the season, helping his side boast the best defensive record in Germany’s second division.
Now 32 - a prime age for a goalkeeper - Karius has become the brick wall at the base of a Schalke team pushing for a return to the pinnacle of German football for the first time since 2023, when they were relegated from the Bundesliga for the second time in three seasons.
Remarkably, he has already kept as many clean sheets this season as the entire squad managed last year, collecting six, and the affection coming his way is a richly deserved byproduct of his resilience. Speaking about his uptick in form, Olaf Thon, a Schalke icon as a player and now a club ambassador, told Ran.de, as per the Daily Mail:
"He gives the team confidence, makes impossible saves, and hardly makes any mistakes. He has experience, and it shows."
Schalke sit second with 27 points, two behind leaders Paderborn and four ahead of third-placed Elversberg on 23. Much of that success can be traced back to their in-form shot-stopper, who also boasts a league-high 64 per cent save rate.
“We are very happy to have placed our trust in him four months ago, at a time when there wasn't much confidence. He has more than repaid us,” said head coach Miron Muslic, as per Marca.
Loris Karius
Loris Karius
Redemption has been sweet for Karius, who has rediscovered his mojo and has even been described as the “phoenix of football” for the nature of his comeback. And if his performances alone don’t paint a clear enough picture of how far he has come in the seven years since the lowest point of his career, then his own words certainly do.
“I don't usually pay much attention to statistics, but as a goalkeeper, you always want to keep a clean sheet,” Karius said. “I'm playing well and I'm satisfied. I'm having an amazing time. I go to training every day with a smile. I'm grateful to be able to experience this week after week, and it's even more wonderful how things are going.”