AS Newcastle United’s players slumped to the Wembley turf in the wake of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, the pain of defeat to Manchester United was etched across their faces. Fabian Schar was inconsolable as he fell to the floor. Bruno Guimaraes was in tears as he walked over to the Newcastle fans. Even Miguel Almiron, normally so bubbly and effusive, was crestfallen.

Loris Karius shared his team-mates’ disappointment, but by the time he had composed himself in the bowels of Wembley, the German was able to provide a welcome sense of perspective to the events of Sunday afternoon. Yes, defeat hurt. But when your career has effectively been ripped away from you because of a couple of high-profile errors five years earlier, it becomes a little easier to keep things on an even keel.

“The last couple of years have not been the easiest,” said Karius, with a high degree of understatement. “There have been a lot of setbacks, but I just tried to keep on working, and put in the work that people do not really see. Then, when an opportunity comes like the one I have just had, you are ready. It means you can go into a game like that with a good feeling.

“Football is not always easy. It’s really fun when you’re at the top, but it can be not so much fun when you are at the bottom. I have experienced both in my career. I have learned from everything, and I am still hungry and think I’ve got a lot of years to play. I think I showed I don’t need to hide or anything, and that I can still perform at this level.”

Karius has never hidden from the game that turned his life upside down, when two goalkeeping gaffes contributed to Liverpool’s defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final, it is just that he was deprived of a chance to meaningfully move on from events in Kiev in May 2018.

Hastily dropped by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, Karius had unsuccessful loan spells with Besiktas and Union Berlin before returning to Merseyside ahead of the start of last season. Any hopes of an Anfield redemption were removed when he was not even given a Premier League squad place under Klopp, and when he left Liverpool as a free agent in the summer, there was a very real chance that his career was over at the age of 29.

A move to Newcastle represented a footballing lifeline, but Karius might well have left the Magpies without having played a single game had events not conspired to rule both Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka out of Sunday’s final. Dubravka was cup-tied, having already played for Manchester United in this season’s competition; Pope was suspended after handling the ball outside his area in Newcastle’s home defeat to Liverpool.

“I was watching the game (against Liverpool) at home,” said Karius. “I didn’t realise in the first moment that he would not be able to play. In Germany, it’s different, you would not have to miss the game in the cup, but then my phone went off quite a bit, so I knew I would probably be playing the week after. That wakes you up obviously, in the first moment. Things can change quick. Then, from there on, it was just about having a great week to make sure I could go into the game full of confidence.”

Plenty of column inches were devoted to Karius’ back story in the build-up to Sunday’s game, but the shot-stopper insists he was able to shut out the external noise in order to focus on his preparations.

“I was pretty relaxed,” he said. “I didn’t really read much or pay much attention to what was being said – I just focused on the training to get in a good rhythm for the game. I just tried to prepare as well as I could to be ready myself. Then, you go into the game with a good feeling. That’s what I tried to do, and didn’t really pay any attention to everything that was going on in the background.”

The Northern Echo: Loris Karius is greeted by Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley Loris Karius is greeted by Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley

The ploy worked, with Karius emerging from Sunday’s game with considerable credit. He had excuses for both of Manchester United’s goals – Newcastle’s defensive line was far too high for the first, Marcus Rashford’s shot took a huge deflection of Sven Botman for the second – and made excellent saves from Wout Weghorst, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes to keep the Magpies in the game.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t win the game,” said Karius. “I really had a good feeling that we were going to bring the cup to Newcastle, and I just tried to do my job and help the team.

“I think I played pretty well given the time I’ve been out. It’s not easy as a goalkeeper to get straight into the rhythm in a game like that, so I think I did quite well. But, ultimately, of course I wish we had been able to bring back the cup. Whatever is to come now, we will see.”

It remains to be seen what happens next, with Karius' contract due to expire at the end of the season, but even if he is not offered a new deal on Tyneside, his return to centre stage at the weekend must surely have enhanced his chances of earning a contract elsewhere. He will never be able to eradicate what has happened in the past – but for the first time in five years, there is at least the prospect of a happy ending.

“If we would have won the cup, it would have been a great story,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s not the dream ending, but who knows? Maybe we will be here again next year with Newcastle. Maybe we will play another one, you never know. The last week showed me again that, in football, anything is possible, ups and downs. Who knows? I’m not writing anything off. Hopefully, the story will have a very good ending one day.”