There were some doubts surrounding the bald stopper when he first came into the English game from Villarreal, yet he has answered all his critics by being rock solid in the Premier League for the past three years.
Agile, confident and dominant in the box, he is a fine all-round keeper with a handy habit of saving penalties.
Reina, the son of famed Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, began his career with the Barcelona youth team in 1997. And two years later he was a member of the Spain side which won the European Under-16 Championship.
He was handed his Barcelona debut in 2000 against Celta Vigo, aged only 18, but having failed to hold down a regular place in the first-team he joined Villarreal on loan in 2002.
The stopper was in supreme form as the club finished seventh and reached the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.
Reina moved to Villarreal permanently in 2004 on an eight-year contract in a swap deal which saw Juliano Belletti move to the Nou Camp. In his only season at the club he was an integral member of the squad which qualified for a place in the Champions League.
And in June 2005 he won his first call-up into the Spain squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Lithuania and Bosnia-Herzegovina but did not play. Reina has been unfortunate to have a figure like Ilker Casillas blocking his path to a regular place in the Spanish national team.
On signing Reina, Benitez referred to him as 'the best goalkeeper in Spain'.
He is seen as something of a spot-kick expert. In 2004/05 he saved seven of the nine penalties Villarreal conceded and would go on to be equally important for Liverpool in penalty situations.
Reina made his Liverpool debut in a 3-0 home victory over Total Network Solutions in a Champions League qualifier in July 2005 and soon made the goalkeeper's jersey his own with some superb displays.
During the 2005/06 FA Cup Final against West Ham in Cardiff he saved three penalties to give the Reds the cup and in the 2006/07 Champions League campaign Reina further enhanced his reputation as a penalty specialist when he saved two of Chelsea's three spot-kicks during a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final to send the Reds through to the 2007 Champions League final.
Unfortunately upon his return home from the match, he discovered that his house in Woolton had been burgled.
His consistency at Liverpool during the 2007/08 season meant he kept his place in Luis Aragones Spain squad for Euro 2008 and made one appearance as La Roja won the competiton to be crowned European Champions. He can be seen on youtube leading the celebrations with renditions of Viva Espana and Hey, Macerana.
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