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There is often a huge discourse about penalties these days. VAR's presence has also not decreased the controversies that develop from penalties being awarded or not.
While the debate over rulings and decisions can go on and on, let's look at which clubs have won the most penalties so far this season in Europe:
#3 Lyon, RB Leipzig, Valencia, AC Milan, Nice - 8
Five teams in Europe have won eight spot-kicks each so far this season - Lyon, RB Leipzig, Valencia, AC Milan and Nice.
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Lyon are 8/8 from 12 yards out. Five of them have come from the boot of Moussa Dembele, who has also won three penalties. Karl Toko Ekambi has taken and scored two as well.
Lucas Paqueta has converted the only one he has taken. Paqueta, Leo Dubois and Bruno Guimarães, who recently moved to Newcastle, have all been brought down once each inside their boxes.
RB Leipzig, too, like Lyon, have been awarded eight penalties. But unlike Lyon, they haven't converted all of then.
Specialist penalty taker Emile Forsberg and striker Andre Silva have taken three penalties each and missed none. Christopher Nkunku, who is in fine form at the moment, has also scored the only one he took.
The solitary miss came from Dominik Szoboszlai, which is really surprising because he is well known for his ball-striking.
When it comes to winning penalties, Nkunku leads with three while veteran Youssef Poulsen has one to his name too.
Valencia are the only representatives on this list from La Liga. They too have only missed one of their spot kicks. Seemingly, a lot of their players get brought down in the box as well, with Jose Gaya, Maxi Gomez, Marcos Sousa, Cheryshev and Foulquier having won a penalty each. Only Hugo Duro has won two.
When it comes to taking penalties, they have Carlos Soler who is renowned for his spot kicks. In fact, he scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid last season with every goal coming from the spot. He has converted all six of his penalties so far in 20/21.
Goncalo Guedes hasn't been as clinical, scoring one and missing another.
Nice have been outstanding this season and are third in the league, level on points with second-placed Marseille. When it comes to penalties, their record has been decent.
Of the eight penalties that Nice have taken, six have been converted. Their main penalty taker, Amine Gouiri, is the one who has been a tad erratic, missing two of his five.
Kasper Dolberg and Andy Delort, however, have scored from one spot-kick each successfully. Five players, including Gouiri, have won one penalty each for them.
For AC Milan, Franck Kessie, Theo Hernandez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have taken three, two and one penalties respectively and have missed one each. Oliver Giroud is the only one who has 100% record from the spot, scoring 2/2.
Rafael Leao's quick dribbling has seen him win two spot kicks, while Zlatan, Kessie and Samu Castillejo have earned one each.
#2 Fiorentina, Inter - 9
Serie A seemingly have a very high rate of penalties. Fiorentina have profited from this, winning as many as nine spot-kicks. Most of their penalties were taken by Dusan Vlahovic, who is no longer at the club. He took six and scored five.
Cristian Biraghi has scored one and missed one while Krystof Piatek has missed the only one he has taken. Nicolas Gonzalez and Bonaventura, on the other hand, have won two penalties each for La Viola.
Inter, too, like Fiorentina, have been awarded spot kicks nine times this season. Hakan Calhanoglu and Ivan Perisic have a great record from the spot, scoring twice and once from the spot respectively. Both have 100% records.
Their chief penalty taker Lautaro Martinez hasn't been that successful though, missing two of his five. Federico Dimarco was the only other to get a chance and he missed the only penalty he took.
#1 Napoli - 10
Napoli are the team who have been awarded the most penalties in Europe this season. Out of the 10 penalties they have won in the league, they have converted seven.
Lorenzo Insigne is their undoubted first-choice penalty-taker. He has taken all but one of their penalties. But he has also missed three of them. Dries Mertens is the only other Napoli player to have taken a penalty, converting it successfully.
Victor Osimhen has won a league-high four penalties while Di Lorenzo and Elmas have won one each.
