Rivalry aside, they’re all human.
Manchester United’s Eric Bailly has reached out to Loris Karius on Instagram following his performance in the Champions League final, which saw him assist Karim Benzema’s opening goal and then splutter Gareth Bale’s speculative drive into the back of his own net, for some reason.
In between all that he got buried by maybe the best goal the Champions League goal ever scored, Bale again catapulting himself into the Kiev night to fire an overhead kick into the top corner from a ludicrous height and distance.
Karius broke his silence following the defeat with a lengthy Instagram post on Sunday, and reactions have ranged from extremely sympathetic to extremely unsympathetic, with the likes of Jermaine Pennant jumping out of the woodwork to pile in on the unfortunate goalkeeper.
Eric Bailly, however, has shown a true touch of class and backed Karius to come back stronger, replying to his post with “Stay strong Loris, you are good golkepper [sic]”.
Eric Bailly’s message to Loris Karius on Instagram #MUFC pic.twitter.com/ZpcP3Ii7SY
— Devils Latest (@Devils_Latest) May 27, 2018
Whilst some Man United supporters might not be happy to see their best centre half show unreserved kindness towards a Liverpool keeper, there is no neutral in the world who won’t respect the gesture.
In the words of Sergio Ramos, they are “all fellow professionals”, especially when they’re not on the pitch doing absolutely everything in their power to win a game.
They’re human at the end of the day, sometimes it is easy to forget that.
Or… or he was being sarcastic. Hard to say.
