#UCLFantasy scout: penalty takers
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Article summary
UEFA.com ponders which UEFA Champions League penalty takers you might draft into your #UCLFantasy team.
Article top media content
Article body
AEK Athens: Petros Mantalos (MF, €4.5) scored AEK's first two penalties of 2018/19, taking his personal tally to nine conversions from a possible 13 (69%).
Ajax: Lasse Schöne (MF, €5.5) shares spot-kick duties with fellow Dane Kasper Dolberg (who has yet to play for Ajax this season). Schöne has converted 21 of 26 in his career (81%) but missed his first of 2018/19.
Atlético: Antoine Griezmann (FW, €10.5m) has slotted 12 of 18 career penalties (67%), including all of his last nine. The Frenchman missed against Real Madrid in the 2016 UEFA Champions League final but converted in nerveless fashion in the FIFA World Cup final.
Barcelona: Lionel Messi (FW, €11.5m) has scored 71 of 93 career spot kicks (76%), including 11 of 14 at Europe's top table (79%). The Argentinian hasn't missed in the UEFA Champions League since February 2015, while Barcelona have never lost in Europe when Messi has struck from the spot.
Bayern: Robert Lewandowski (FW, €11.0m) has converted 36 of 39 attempts (92%), including 24 in succession between May 2015 and March 2018. The Pole is yet to miss in seven UEFA Champions League attempts.
Benfica: Eduardo Salvio (MF, €5.5) struck from the spot twice against PAOK in qualifying – maintaining his perfect record in four career penalties – and may continue taking them in the absence of usual choice Jonas.
Club Brugge: Jelle Vossen (FW, €6.5m) has dispatched 21 of 27 career penalties (78%) and is currently on a run of eight successful spot kicks – all of which have come in Club Brugge victories.
Crvena zvezda: El Fardou Ben Nabouhane (FW, €6.0) has scored three penalties already this season (including one in Europe); he has missed just one in 15 career attempts (93%).
CSKA Moskva: Abel Hernández (FW, €7.5m) stepped up to the spot for CSKA's only penalty to date this season and scored; the Uruguayan has converted 14 of 17 career efforts (82%), but once missed twice from the spot in as many minutes for Hull City.
Borussia Dortmund: Expected to be BVB's go-to taker, Marco Reus (MF, €9.0m) has converted ten of 12 attempts from the spot (83%) and scored eight in a row between August 2013 and October 2015.
Galatasaray: Fatih Terim recently confirmed the situation, saying: "Our first-choice penalty taker is Selçuk İnan (MF, €5.5m), if he is on the pitch. If he's not there, then Sinan Gümüş (FW, €8.0m) will take them."
Hoffenheim: Andrej Kramarić (FW, €7.5m) boasts an impressive conversion rate (23/27, 85%), but missed against Liverpool in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League qualifying play-off first leg.
Internazionale: Mauro Icardi (FW, €10.0m) has netted 14 of 19 career penalties (74%), including seven on the bounce between November 2016 and December 2017, but has never taken a spot kick in UEFA competition.
Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo (FW, €12.0m) is the only player on this list to have taken over 100 career penalties, with 103 of his 121 attempts (85%) successful. The Portuguese netted an astonishing 26 successive spot kicks between February 2010 and May 2012, his best-ever sequence.
Liverpool: James Milner (MF, €5.5m) has scored 21 of 25 penalties (84%) and did not miss any of his 15 attempts between January 2010 and May 2017. When Milner has scored a penalty for Liverpool, they have never lost.
Lokomotiv Moskva: Manuel Fernandes (MF, €7.5m) has slotted an impressive 11 of 12 career penalties (92%) and has never missed in UEFA competition.
Lyon: Nabil Fekir (FW, €8.5m) has converted seven of nine penalties (78%) for Lyon, his best run coming between September 2016 and November 2017 when he registered four in succession.
Man. City: Sergio Agüero (FW, €10.5m) has slotted 35 of his 44 penalties (80%), including his last five in all competitions. Once he missed twice in the same game – a 5-0 UEFA Champions League play-off win at FCSB – but still ended up with a hat-trick. The Argentinian's conversion rate drops in the UEFA Champions League proper (8/11, 73%).
Man. United: Paul Pogba (MF, €9.0m) has begun the campaign as United's penalty taker and has scored four of six senior penalties in his career (66%).
Monaco: Since arriving in Europe in 2009, Radamel Falcao (FW, €9.0m) has converted 35 of his 47 spot kicks (74%). The Colombian scored 13 in a row between August 2012 and December 2013, but wasted his first attempt for Monaco in this season's Ligue 1 campaign.
Napoli: Dries Mertens (FW, €10.0m) will assume full-time penalty duties this term. The Belgian has converted 18 of 24 career spot kicks (75%) – and had a streak of 12 successful penalties between January 2011 and January 2015 – but missed his only UEFA Champions League attempt against Man. City in last year's group stage.
Paris: Of Neymar's (FW, €11.0m) 26 spot kicks, he has converted 20 (77%). The Brazilian has taken six penalties for Paris since joining in 2017, scoring all of them, and is on a run of nine successful attempts dating back to October 2016.
Plzeň: Michael Krmenčík (FW, €6.5m) has taken on spot-kick duties this season, but has missed once and scored once (50%).
Porto: Vincent Aboubakar (FW, €6.5m) has dispatched all eight career spot kicks (100%), yet shared the responsibility with Alex Telles (DF, €5.5m) and Yacine Brahimi (MF, €7.0m) last term.
PSV Eindhoven: Gastón Pereiro (FW, €5.5) seems to be the penalty taker of choice this season having converted twice in 2018/19, the Uruguayan's 80% career hit rate reflecting four finishes in five attempts.
Real Madrid: Sergio Ramos (DF, €6.5m) has stepped up to the spot since Ronaldo's departure, and been successful three times – the first against Atlético in the UEFA Super Cup. His conversion rate is 73%: eight scored in his 11 attempts.
Roma: Diego Perotti (MF, €8.5m) has converted 16 of 18 career spot kicks (89%), but faces competition from Daniele De Rossi (MF, €7.0m) who hasn't missed from the spot since April 2008 and scored in Roma's 3-0 win over Barcelona in last spring's UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg.
Schalke: Schalke had a habit of rotating penalty takers last season to ensure maximum mystery, but Nabil Bentaleb (MF, €7.5m) is usually first among equals. The Algerian international has converted all eight career penalties (100%), although Daniel Caligiuri (MF, €7.0m) boasts a 91% record from his 11 efforts.
Shakhtar Donetsk: Marlos (MF, €6.0m), who has scored 11 of 13 career spot kicks (85%), has never missed in UEFA competition.
Tottenham: Harry Kane (FW, €11.0m) has rattled in 21 of 26 penalties (81%) – including his last five – although his best return came between March 2015 and May 2016, when he slotted seven in succession.
Valencia: Although he has never taken a penalty in UEFA competition, Daniel Parejo (MF, €6.5m) has converted 19 of 23 spot kicks (82%) in Spain. The captain is currently on a streak of eight successful penalties dating back to March 2017.
Young Boys: Guillaume Hoarau (FW, €6.5) has opened his penalty account for 2018/19 with two successful conversions, taking his career total to 42 out of 47 attempts (89%).
*All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number and do not include shoot-outs. International friendlies and non-European club competitions have been excluded.