Pepe Reina

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his career with the Barcelona youth team and made his La Liga debut in the 2000–01 season. He signed for Villarreal in 2002, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup twice. Reina moved on to Liverpool and made his debut in the 2005 UEFA Super Cup, which Liverpool won. He instantly became first-choice goalkeeper and went on to win both the FA Cup – where he saved three out of four West Ham United penalties in the final – and the FA Community Shield. In 2007, he reached the Champions League final with Liverpool, matching the feat achieved by his father in 1974, but Liverpool lost to AC Milan. Following eight consecutive seasons as Liverpool's first-choice keeper, Reina spent the 2013–14 season on loan at Napoli, where he was reunited with Rafael Benítez. During his loan tenure in Naples, Reina was part of the side that won the Coppa Italia in 2014. Reina then completed a permanent move to Bayern Munich in 2014, where he was the second-choice keeper behind Manuel Neuer. Reina returned to Napoli on a permanent deal in 2015, where he remained until 2018 when he signed for Milan. In January 2020, he completed a loan move to Aston Villa, before returning to Serie A with Lazio in August 2020. After two seasons at Lazio followed by another stint with Villarreal, Reina joined Como in 2024, where he finished his career. At international level, Reina played for Spain's youth team, winning the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 1999. He made his senior debut in 2005, and was generally selected as the second-choice keeper behind Iker Casillas and David de Gea. He was part of the Spain squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and made one appearance in their victorious UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, earning him his first international honour. He was later part of the Spain squads that won their first ever World Cup in 2010 and their third UEFA European Championship in 2012, as well as featuring at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

In Their Own Story

On 17 May 2009, during a match against West Bromwich Albion, Pepe Reina was part of a heated on-field incident. After a moment of poor defending from teammate Álvaro Arbeloa threatened Liverpool's clean sheet, Jamie Carragher clashed with Arbeloa, and the two had to be separated by Daniel Agger, Xabi Alonso, Emiliano Insúa, and Pepe Reina himself. Carragher later explained the clash was motivated by protecting Reina's chance at the Golden Glove for the fourth consecutive season. Manager Rafael Benítez refused to comment on the incident.

Reader's Guide

Reina made the fourth-highest number of appearances by a Spanish player in the Premier League, with more than 200 appearances in just his first five seasons, 108 of the 219 appearances being clean sheets. In the 2010–11 season, he kept his 100th Premier League clean sheet for Liverpool in a 3–0 win over Aston Villa. He won the Premier League Golden Glove award for the 2005–06 season with 20 clean sheets, and again for the 2006–07 season with 19 clean sheets, and a third consecutive Golden Glove in 2007–08 with 18 clean sheets. In 2008–09, he kept 20 clean sheets as Liverpool finished runners-up. In 2009–10, he tied with Petr Čech for the Golden Glove but Čech was awarded the trophy with a superior goals-to-game ratio.

Did You Know?

• Reina broke Liverpool's club record for successive clean sheets in the Premier League in December 2005, surpassing David James's record of five games.
• He holds a Liverpool record for the fewest goals conceded by a goalkeeper in his first 50 matches, conceding just 29 goals.
• Reina became the quickest goalkeeper in Liverpool history to reach 50 clean sheets, achieving it on his 92nd league outing.
• He saved three out of four penalties in the 2006 FA Cup final to secure the win for Liverpool.