Penalty stats across Europe: Manchester United stands out

The sample is composed of teams always present in one of the 31 leagues surveyed during this period.

Crvena Zvezda is at the top with a penalty every 239 minutes, while Manchester United heads the rankings in the big-5 (one every 299 minutes).

Paris St-Germain (305 minutes), Lazio and Inter (both 315’), Real Sociedad (374’), as well as Borussia Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig (both 397’) top the table in the other major championships.

Real Madrid scored all the 24 penalties obtained.

The lowest conversion rate among big-5 league teams was recorded for Montpellier (8 out of 14, 57%) and the lowest overall was measured for Stoke City (6 out of 15, 40%).

In total, the teams surveyed scored 78.6% of the penalties awarded.

The Greek of Panathinaikos obtained the most penalties compared to the number of big chances created: one penalty every 15 goal scoring chances.

Bristol City are at the opposite end with one penalty obtained every 91 big chances. This is partially due to different refereeing styles.

The number of penalties awarded per match vary indeed between 0.23 in the English Championship up to almost the double in the Ukrainian top division (0.45).

About the CIES Football Observatory

The CIES Football Observatory is a research group created in 2005 within the Swiss-based Centre International d’Étude du Sport (CIES). It specialises in the statistical analysis of football, in particular in the areas of demographics, transfer values and performance. Click here for more information.

About the CIES

The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel. Click here for more information. Click here for more information.

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