Manuel 'Manolo' Reina Rodríguez (born 1 April 1985) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Born in Villanueva del Trabuco,

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, Reina was a product of hometown

's youth system. He appeared in one game with the first team in the 2005–06 season, against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

in a 0–0 home draw, as they went on to rank last in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. In 2007, Reina joined

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

, but played mainly for the reserves during his early spell. However, the club's severe financial crisis led to him becoming first choice after the departure of

Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan i ...

; in eight matches, he conceded 18 goals. Reina totalled 48 appearances the next two seasons, the last of them ending in top-flight promotion. For

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

he was initially deemed second choice, to newly signed

Gustavo Munúa Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Argentine club Unión de Santa Fe. After starting out at Nacional he spent most of his professional career in S ...

. However, after the Uruguayan conceded ten goals in the first three matches, he was selected for the next two rounds, keeping

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

(1–0 away win) and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

(0–0, at home); he eventually lost his starting position again, finishing the campaign with 18 games as the

Valencians Valencians ( va, valencians) are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Legally, Valencians are the inhabitants of the community. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Aut ...

eventually retained their status. On 20 June 2011, Reina signed for

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

of the second division. After their relegation he moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

AEP Paphos FC AEP Paphos ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Πάφος, ''Athlitiki Enosi Pafos''; "Athletic Union Paphos") was a Cypriot football club based in Paphos. The club was formed in 2000 after the merger of the two clubs of Paphos, APOP and Evagoras. A ...

. Reina switched teams and countries again on 30 January 2013, signing with

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club

Atromitos F.C. Atromitos Football Club (, ''PAE APS Atromitos Athinon''), also simply known as Atromitos (literally meaning "Fearless"), is a Greek professional football club based in Peristeri, Athens, that plays in the Super League. It was founded in 1923 ...

as a replacement for

PAOK FC P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of ...

-bound

Charles Itandje Charles Hubert Itandje (born 2 November 1982) is a retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in France, Itandje represented the Cameroon national team. Club career Lens Born in Bobigny (a suburb of Paris) of Cameroonian ...

. He was mostly a backup to

Velimir Radman Velimir Radman (born 28 May 1983 in Banja Luka) is a Croatian football goalkeeper, who last played for NK Lošinj, a club based in Lošinj which competes in 4th Croatian league. Club career He played for NK Rijeka from 2002 to 2010, with a o ...

, and left in June after making no competitive appearances. On 2 July 2013, Reina returned to his country and penned a contract with

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

side

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

. He was an undisputed starter during his four-year spell, achieving promotion to the second division in his second season. Reina cut ties with the club on 6 July 2017, and signed for

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

13 days later. He won two consecutive promotions to return to the top tier – always as first choice – adding another one at the end of the 2020–21 campaign. Reina returned to the

La Rosaleda Stadium Estadio La Rosaleda (; literally The Rose Garden) is a football stadium in the city of Málaga, in Andalucia, southern Spain. It is the home stadium of Málaga CF in Segunda División and was previously that of the Club Deportivo Málaga, of wh ...

in June 2022 after 15 years away, on a two-year deal.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Gimnàstic *

: 2014–15 Mallorca *Segunda División B: 2017–18

References

External links

* *
LaLiga profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reina, Manolo 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Málaga Spanish footballers Footballers from Andalusia Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Atlético Levante UD players Levante UD footballers FC Cartagena footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers RCD Mallorca players Cypriot First Division players AEP Paphos FC players Atromitos F.C. players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece