Loris Karius: Important to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible to stay in the game

The 32-year-old keeper didn’t have to wait long for his first test in Dresden; they had only been playing for a minute and half before Christoph Daferner fired a shot towards the far post after a wicked cross from the right-hand side. Although referee Robert Hartmann then signalled it was offside, Karius managed to get a strong hand on the ball and turn it around the post. “Something like that at the start makes you feel good straight away and helps you get into the game quickly,” explained the S04 number one.

The veteran keeper showed his quality again in a number of other situations and was key to Schalke’s victory. “This league is very even in terms of quality and it’s important for us to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible to stay in the game,” said Karius. “We always have the potential to score up top.” That is exactly what happened in Dresden. After the hosts had a goal ruled out for offside, it was Kenan Karaman who scored the decisive penalty down the other end, securing the 1-0 away win. “You also sometimes need to be lucky to survive in this league,” the shot-stopper said.

Youri Mulder also praised the keeper’s performance and the first clean sheet of the season: “Loris was incredibly strong and charismatic today; for me he was the player of the match,” said Schalke’s director of professional football. All this, despite the fact that Karius only fully joined team training during pre-season. “Every week he gets stronger, more confident and more dominant,” said head coach Miron Muslic. “In the dangerous situations against Dresden he performed brilliantly. We know that with Loris behind us we have a man who can save unstoppable shots, which gives us a lot more stability in our defence.”