Gelsenkirchen

Loris Karius has lived enough highs and lows for several careers, but this season in Gelsenkirchen has given him something he has searched for since that night in Kyiv: a clean slate. Schalke supporters have taken to calling him the phoenix of Schalke—a nod not just to his revival, but to the way he seems to have pulled the club up with him. And in many ways, the nickname fits. After years of drifting through uncertain spells, Karius has become the anchor of a team rediscovering its identity.

His numbers tell one story: just seven goals conceded across twelve league …