Pepe Reina makes Aston Villa claim which will raise eyebrows at Liverpool
Former Aston Villa goalkeeper Pepe Reina has surprisingly revealed that, despite all that he has achieved in his decorated career, staying up during his short time at Villa Park was among his favourite memories in football.
Reina, who plays for Como under Cesc Fabregas at the age of 42, spent the second half of the 2019-20 season at Villa, who had just lost number one Tom Heaton to a season-ending injury. The experienced Spaniard kept goal for the run-in and in Villa's EFL Cup defeat to Manchester City at Wembley before the pandemic outbreak.
Former Liverpool stopper Reina won three international titles with Spain and lifted the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Super Cup and the Club World Cup during his time at Anfield. He also won the Italian Cup with Napoli and the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, but staying up with Villa, at West Ham, in the summer of 2020 will remain among his best achievements.
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“I have won a lot in football, but one of my greatest satisfactions was staying up with Aston Villa," he told La Provincia di Como, via Sport Witness. "Fighting to stay in Serie A or the Premier League cements the spirit of belonging. Here we are ready, all of us, focused on wanting to take the team even higher in the standings to make everyone feel more at ease.”
He, like Fabregas, won Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 with Spain, as well as the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Reina's career is a decorated one; he played 394 games for Liverpool but also played for Lazio, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich and AC Milan.
Reina joined Villa on loan in January 2020 after an injury suffered by Heaton at Burnley on New Year's Day, and helped Dean Smith and Co keep Villa in the Premier League in dramatic circumstances across his 12 appearances between the sticks.
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