index – Pepe Reina

REINA BENCHED FOR WIN OVER SASSUOLO

April 15, 2022 index

Veteran Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina was on the bench for the entire duration of the game as Lazio beat Sassuolo 2-1 at home to recover from their heavy defeat in the Rome Derby and also boost their quest for Champions League football in the new season. Pepe Reina has been a regular in the Lazio starting XI this season until recent weeks when manager Maurizio Sarri opted for Thomas Strakosha as his first-choice goalkeeper.

Thomas Strakosha retained his place in the Lazio starting line-up for the visit of Sassuoloahead of Pepe Reina despite conceding three goals against hosts AS Roma in the Rome Derby clash played in the Italian Serie A just before the recently concluded international break. Strakosha was unable to stop Roma from finding the back of the net three times in the first half with England international Tammy Abraham responsible for two of the goals to take his tally to 23 goals in all competitions this season. He gave Roma a dream start in the first minute before completing his brace midway into the first half. Italian midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini wrapped up the big win as early as the 40^th minute. Continue reading →

COPPA ITALIA: MILAN THROUGH TO SEMIS

February 20, 2022 index

AC Milan are through to the Coppa Italia semi-finals after the big win recorded over Lazio in their quarterfinal tie at the San Siro on Wednesday. The Rossoneri put four past Pepe Reina in the Lazio goal to book their place in the last four of the competition.

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Hosts AC Milan took the lead through Portuguese forward Rafael Leao in the 24^th minute. In-form Frenchman Olivier Giroud added a second goal for the seven-time European champions with four first half minutes left to play as he gave Pepe Reina in the Lazio goal no chance of saving the first of his first half brace to take his tally to three goals in two games.Giroud came into the Lazio game with two quick-fire goals from the Milan Derby at the weekend. The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker scored a brace within three minutes to turn the Milan Derby clash in the Italian Serie A on its head.
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NAPOLI MOVE CLEAR WITH WIN

December 7, 2021 index

Veteran Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina picked the ball from the back of the net four times as leaders Napoli ran riot to extend their lead at the top of the Italian Serie A table.

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Pepe Reina was given no chance as hosts Napoli took the lead through Poland international Piotr Zelinski in the seventh minute. Dries Mertens came into the Napoli starting XI in the place of the injured Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen and he doubled the advantage from the home team with a fine finish off the assist from fellow petite player Lorenzo Insigne.
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REINA CONCEDE THREE TIMES IN DEFEAT

October 19, 2021 index

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Veteran Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina picked the ball out of his net three times as his Lazio side suffered a convincing defeat in their Italian Serie A clash with Bologna. Lazio have been largely inconsistent in the league this season and this was encapsulated by the disappointing 3-0 loss at Bologna, which followed their impressive 3-2 derby win over AS Roma.

Pepe Reina and Lazio provided their worst performance of the new Italian Serie A season right after their best performance of the season. Lazio had edged city rivals Roma at home in a five-goal thriller during their latest league meeting and their fans would have hoped that the Maurizio Sarri-led team would be able to build on that Rome Derby win but reverse was the case in their next leaguegame as they were convincingly beaten and even had a man sent off in the final fourteen minutes after Italian international Francesco Acerbi was given his marching orders. Continue reading →

SARRI MAKES DECISION ON GOALKEEPER

September 8, 2021 index

New Lazio boss Maurizio Sarri has made his decision as far as the starting goalkeeper is concerned after he opted for veteran Spanish shot stopper Pepe Reina ahead of Thomas Strakosha.

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It had previously been revealed that Strakosha would seek to leave Lazio before the end of the transfer window if he’s not the first choice goalkeeper and it was certain that the possibility of Strakosha leaving the Italian capital club didn’t influence Sarri and his final decision on who starts the season in goal.
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REINA: CASILLAS AND BUFFON ARE THE GREATEST GOALKEEPERS

July 6, 2021 index

In the history of football, it somewhat easy to talk about attackers when mentioning the best players and from there, the next set of people who appear under the spotlight are midfielders. However, it’s rare to give credit to defenders for their brilliant performances and roles on the pitch, and even more difficult to single out goalkeepers for special recognitions and awards even though they also have very important roles to play on the pitch, just like everyone else. There have been a lot of outstanding goalkeepers to have graced the game and a lot of them have already gone down in history as the best of the best.

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We have seen the likes of Fabian Barthez, Dudek, Oliver Kahn, Edwin Van der Sar, Peter Schmeichel, Petr Cech, Victor Valdes, Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon, and others burst onto the scene and play hundreds of games for both club and country while also going on to cement their names in the history of football as some of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. It is quite hard to single out one particular goalkeeper as the best goalkeeper of all time, but according to former Liverpool shot-stopper Pepe Reina, the two best goalkeepers in history are Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas.
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REINA REVEALS CAREER PLAN

June 3, 2021 index

Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina is in the twilight of his football career at the age of 38 and he has revealed what his next career would be when he hangs up his gloves. Pepe Reina talked about his career in an exclusive interview with Tell Me, a program on the Lazio Style Channel. According to him, his plan is to follow in the footsteps of a lot of his past teammates by becoming a coach.

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Ex-national team colleagues like Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso and Marcos Senna have already gone into coaching. He also confirmed that him and his family will return to Madrid after his playing career as they have a house, a project and a vision of life in the Spanish capital.
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SERIE A: LAZIO SECURE BIG WIN

May 14, 2021 index

Lazio are firmly in the Champions League race after their big win over AC Milan in the Italian Serie A. The Italian capital club got the better of Milan who are fellow contenders in the race to qualify for Champions League football. The first four teams in the Italian top flight will secure spots in the Champions League in the new season.

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Pepe Reina was in goal as Lazio got the better of Milan to close the gap on the leading pack in the Champions League race as far as the Italian Serie A is concerned. The ex-Liverpool shot stopper was able to keep a clean sheet for Lazio during the game. Pepe Reina didn’t concede a goal as Lazio thrashed Milan 3-0 at home to move within five points of their opponents.
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REINA RECORDS CLEAN SHEET IN WIN

March 27, 2021 index

Pepe Reina kept a clean sheet as his Lazio team boosted their quest for a spot in the Champions League next season with a slim away win over Udinese in their league game at the weekend. Only the top four teams will qualify for the Champions League next season via the Italian Serie A. AS Roma are city rivals of Lazio and they are still in the Europa League. A win in the Europa League will guarantee AS Roma a place in the Champions League next season. Lazio and AS Roma are two of the many teams battling to win a place in the top four at the end of the present Italian Serie A campaign.

For Pepe Reina and Lazio, they have a lot of work to do in the final ten games to secure a place in the Champions League for next season and make it back-to-back as far as the competition is concerned. Lazio made their return to the Champions League after many years and they were able to make it to the last 16 stage before they were knocked out by holders Bayern Munich. Pepe Reina was in goal over the two legs as the Bavarian giants sealed a 6-2 aggregate win over Lazio to progress into the quarterfinals.
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LEIPZIG GOALKEEPER RECALLS ANFIELD MEMORIES

March 1, 2021 index

RB Leipzig shot stopper Peter Gulacsi went down memory lane as he recalled his time at Liverpool ahead of the Champions League round of 16 first leg meeting between the two teams. Peter Gulacsi was a Liverpool goalkeeper for six years between 2007 and 2013. The Hungarian international goalkeeper initially spent the 2007/08 season on loan at Liverpool before the move was made permanent in 2008. He left MTK Budapest in his native Hungary to sign for the Reds on loan before the move was made permanent at the end of his loan contract.

Liverpool took up the option of making his transfer permanent but he didn’t make an appearance for the first team till he left for Austrian Bundesliga giantsRed Bull Salzburg in 2013.He talked about his memories as a Liverpool in an exclusive interview with The Atheltic. According to him, he can count the number of penalties that he saved from Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. Peter Gulacsi was not able to make an appearance for Liverpool due to the goalkeeping duo of Pepe Reina and Doni. Spanish shot stopper Pepe Reina was the undisputed first choice at Liverpool during his time at the club, while Brazilian player Doni was the second choice goalkeeper. Peter Gulacsi was the third choice shot stopper at Liverpool behind the aforementioned duo of Doni and Pepe Reina. Continue reading →