Some of the key moments from a stellar career played out between the sticks across Europe.
Header image - Liverpool Echo
Legendary goalkeeper Pepe Reina has retired at the age of 42. He made over 900 appearances in his senior career over the past 25 years, and ranks fourth for the most Premier League appearances by a Spanish player
Son of Miguel Reina, the former goalkeeper of Barcelona, Pepe planted his roots in the youth academy of Barcelona from 1995. At the age of 18, he was called up to the Barcelona first team and debuted in 2000 as a substitute for Dutruel in a 3-3 draw against Celta Vigo. He made a total of 49 appearances at Barcelona.
In 2002, he signed for Villarreal and called it home for three seasons making 147 appearances across all competitions. In 2005, it was with his help that for the first time in history, the Yellow Submarine qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
When Reina joined Liverpool in 2005, he played 394 times in almost 10 years and was hailed by manager Rafa Benitez as “the best goalkeeper in Spain.” Over eight seasons with Liverpool (and a short loan at Napoli in 2013-14), Reina took home the FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup as well as the English League Cup and English Super Cup. He won the golden glove three times, only one off the record holders Joe Hart and Petr Cech with four.
His Bayern debut in 2015, starting with a 4-0 away win against Werder Bremen, made him the first Spaniard and goalkeeper to play in Europe’s four top leagues: Spain, England, Italy, and Germany.
The Spaniard found himself back in Napoli from 2015 to 2018 making 111 league appearances before joining AC Milan.
The last six years of Reina’s career found him hopping from Lazio, appearing 44 times, back to the club that kickstarted his senior career, Villarreal, to play another 24 times, and before finally starting his final playing chapter in the 2024 summer with Como appearing 12 times under his former Spain teammate Cesc Fabregas before announcing his retirement last week. He says, “It (my career) has been much longer than I dreamed, and it has been so short that I would live it all over again.”
“My heartfelt thanks to all those people who have crossed my path, the greatest asset of this profession, from all of them I carry a little piece, and I do not forget that they have helped me to live this authentic privilege of a career as a footballer."
Sources have indicated that a post as goalkeeping coach for the youth group back at Villarreal may be in his future.
We've trawled through the social media archives to compile some of the biggest - and wackiest - moments of Reina's career.
2005 - Signing for Liverpool
2006 - A pre-season cameo outfield
2006 - FA Cup final penalty hero
2007 - Helping Liverpool to the Champions League Final
2008 - European Champion
2009 - An iconic celebration
2009 - The infamous beach ball incident
2010 - A World Cup Winner
2015 - The first goalkeeper to play in four of Europe's top leagues
2020 - A dancing Premier League return
2025 - And…sent off in his final professional game
