5 superstars who struggle at scoring penalties

#3 Paul Pogba (France/Manchester United)

Manchester United v Fulham - Premier League

Before Bruno Fernandes monopolized the penalty-taking business at Manchester United, Paul Pogba was the designated taker for a while. The Frenchman is infamous for his unhurried run-up which is supposedly meant to put goalkeepers off.

Pogba does alter his style in between and takes the old-fashioned route too but neither have proven to be very fruitful for him. Pogba has taken 18 penalties in his career so far and has missed five of them. He misses almost one out of every three penalties and is thus, far from being a reliable penalty taker.

At Manchester United, Pogba has fallen well down the pecking order as far as penalties are concerned. The Red Devils now have Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford who are all pretty dependable from the spot.

#2 Antoine Griezmann (France/Atletico Madrid)

Atletico Madrid v Liverpool FC: Group B - UEFA Champions League

Antoine Griezmann is one of the finest attackers of his generation. The technically gifted forward has been brilliant for both club and country over the last decade. He was one of France's standout performers at Euro 2016 and in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Griezmann has scored a total of 223 goals in 569 appearances in his club career. However, the 30-year-old has a poor record when it comes to penalties. He has scored just 18 of the 28 penalties he has taken in his career. Yes, he has missed more than a third of the penalties he has taken thus far.

He was removed from penalty duties for his national side after missing two in back-to-back Euro 2020 qualifiers against Albania and Andorra in the 2018-19 season.

#1 Edin Dzeko (Bosnia & Herzegovina/Inter Milan)

SS Lazio v FC Internazionale - Serie A

Edin Dzeko has been a reliable goalscorer for both club and country. He is counted as an elite striker and was particularly brilliant during his stints with AS Roma and Manchester City.

Even though Dzeko is an excellent finisher who is also adept at orchestrating play inside the final third, his record from the spot is ridiculously poor. Dzeko has taken a total of 21 penalties in his career. The 35-year-old has missed 10 of those.

That makes him arguably the worst penalty taker among elite players. Dzeko's penalty record is so poor that since the start of the 2017-18 season, he has only been asked to take two penalties. He missed both of them. His last goal from the spot came in the 2016-17 season for Bosnia & Herzegovina in an international friendly against Albania.