Former Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina has won plenty over an illustrious career that has seen the Spaniard win FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Community Shield in England, a Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, Coppa Italia as a Napoli player, two European Championships and a World Cup – but he admits he would trade it all in to get his hands on the Champions League trophy.
Reina, currently in his second season with Italian giants Lazio, played in the 2007 Champions League final when Milan got a measure of revenge on the Reds for Istanbul with club football’s biggest game eluding the veteran keeper ever since.
While Reina admits he is “proud” of his career, he is left with one lingering regret as he enters the final years of his time playing – calling it a “thorn” over the last 14 years since Athens.
“I am proud, but if you ask me,” Reina told Marca, “I would change all that for having won a Champions League.
“Without a doubt, it is what I have been missing, a thorn since we lost the final with Liverpool in 2007.”
At 39 Reina is unlikely to have many more shots at getting his hands on the famous trophy and, given some of the clubs he’s represented over his glittering career it is remarkable he’s never won club football’s biggest prize.
While he might have regrets about never lifting the Champions League, Reina’s place as one of the greats surely can’t be questioned.
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