Jose Manuel Reina Paez was born in Madrid on August 31 1982.
Son of a former Barcelona goalkeeper, Miguel Reina, he started his football career in the youth team of Barcelona and played three times for the Barca C side in 1998-99 in the Spanish third division. The next year he was the regular goalkeeper of the B side.
In 2001-02 he started playing part time also for the A side, particularly in Copa del Rey, but he was less used in the subsequent year and at the end of the season he was loaned to Villareal. He would stay there for three seasons, twice winning the Intertoto Cup.
In 2005-06 he moved to Liverpool and stayed there for eight years. With the reds he won a UEFA Super Cup, a League Cup, an FA Cup and a Community Shield and gained legendary status at the club.
In 2013, Livepool loaned him to Napoli for a season where he found his former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez. That season he won the Coppa Italia. After his Neapolitan parenthesis he was sold to Bayern Munich with the idea that he would be Bayern’s second goalkeeper. The problem that season for Reina was that Bayern’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer played all of the games since he is a fundamental piece of the German side’s team. This meant that Pepe played only three games in the whole season. Despite winning the Bundesliga, Reina wanted to play more so he moved back to Napoli, this time on a definite transfer.
He second stint at Napoli lasted three years. When his contract expired in 2018 he decided not to renew and joined Milan as second goalkeeper. In January 2020 he signed for Aston Villa on loan to the end of the season, played most of the remaining games and contributed significantly in keeping the Birmingham team in the Premiership.
In August 2020 Reina joined Lazio. The Biancocelesti were looking for a goalkeeper of experience that could help Thomas Strakosha but also serve as a solid alternative. When Strakosha got injured, Reina took his place and stayed as number one for the rest of the season. Inzaghi liked the fact that Reina was good with his feet and could actually start play from the back. However, Reina was not as good between the posts, despite some incredible saves like the one against Parma.
When Maurizio Sarri became the new manager, Reina was confirmed in goal, but Pepe was letting in too many saveable goals and lost his place in the team.
Pepe Reina was part of the National squad that won three trophies for Spain in four years. He was the second goalkeeper in the 2008 Euros held in Austria and Switzerland, won by Spain against Germany, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa won against The Netherlands and the 2012 Euros held in Poland and Ukraine, where Spain beat Italy in the final. He was also part of the squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He played 36 times for Spain, including one game in Euro 2008 and one in the 2014 World Cup.
Reina is very good with his feet and this is his main quality. He has good reflexes and has saved many penalties. However, he is prone to mistakes and in later years has not been as “explosive”. A low shot in the corner was his Achilles Heel, especially in the Lazio years.
He played 54 games for Lazio (44 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia and 7 in Champions League).
He had a two-year contract plus a possible extra year if Lazio qualified for Europe. Lazio did qualify, but Reina decided against renewing and went back to Villareal. In 2024 he signed for Como in Serie A.
Appearances for Lazio
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2020-21 | 37 | 29 | 1 | 7 |
2021-22 | 17 | 15 | 2 | - |
Total | 54 | 44 | 3 | 7 |
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