Fantasy Football: who takes the penalties?
Thursday, September 26, 2019
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UEFA.com provides a list of each club's penalty takers that #UCLfantasy managers might want to take into account.
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UEFA.com looks at each UEFA Champions League club's designated penalty takers.
Ajax: Dušan Tadić (€9.0m)
The Dutch champions have already been awarded five penalties this season, Tadić scoring four and missing one; the Serbian forward converted 14 of his 16 attempts for his club last season.
Atalanta: Luis Muriel (€8.0m)
Atalanta struggled from the spot last season as they chopped and changed who took them. It appears that summer signing Luis Muriel will be given that responsibility having scored their last spot kick.
Atlético: Álvaro Morata (€9.5m)
Antoine Griezmann's departure left a vacancy for penalty responsibilities at Atlético. Morata has already missed one kick this season, so it remains to be seen whether he is still the go-to man.
Barcelona: Lionel Messi (€11.5m)
Although Luis Suárez does take the odd spot kick, more often than not Messi is trusted with the responsibility when both are on the pitch. The Spain Liga side are yet to be awarded a penalty in 2019/20, but Messi took six for his club last season, converting five.
Bayern: Robert Lewandowski (€10.5m)
Lewandowski has scored from the spot twice already this season and has a 100% success rate when it comes to UEFA Champions League penalties, with all nine attempts finding the net. He recently allowed Philippe Coutinho to take a penalty in the Bundesliga, but that is likely to be an exception rather than the norm.
Benfica: Pizzi (€6.0m)
Pizzi has taken three penalties this season although he was unsuccessful in his most recent attempt after scoring the first two. The Portuguese midfielder scored six of his seven attempts from the spot for Benfica last season.
Chelsea: Ross Barkley (€7.0m)
With the summer departure of Eden Hazard, Jorginho, Pedro and Barkley have all taken penalties for Chelsea this season. Despite being the only one to miss, Frank Lampard has confirmed that Barkley is first choice should he be on the pitch
Club Brugge: Hans Vanaken (€6.5m)
The attacking midfielder has despatched three penalties already this season, including two in UEFA Champions League qualifying.
Crvena zvezda: Milan Pavkov (€6.0m)
Forward Pavkov has scored both penalties in 2019/20, meaning he should retain the responsibility for the forseeable future.
Dinamo Zagreb: Bruno Petković (€7.0m)
Petković has taken four penalties for Dinamo this season – three in UEFA Champions League qualifying - and although he missed one, he remains on spot-kick duties for the Croatian side.
Dortmund: Marco Reus (€9.5m)
Dortmund's sole penalty this season came on UEFA Champions League matchday one against Barcelona, when Reus saw his effort saved by compatriot Marc-André ter Stegen. However, Reus had a 100% record from the spot last season and is likely to still be first choice despite pressure from Paco Alcácer.
Galatasaray: Radamel Falcao (€8.5m)
Following the departure of Mbaye Diagne in the summer, Selçuk İnan and Younès Belhanda have both taken penalties so far this season but summer signing Falcao will likely assume spot-kick duties. The Colombian striker has missed his last three UEFA Champions League penalties, however.
Genk: Ally Mbwana Samatta (€5.0m)
Genk sold two of their regular penalty takers in the summer as both Ruslan Malinovskyi and Leandro Trossard departed for pastures new. They have yet to earn a spot kick this season but striker Mbwana Samatta took two last season (converting one) and is the team's current top goalscorer this season.
Internazionale: Romelu Lukaku (€10.0m)
The Belgian striker has assumed responsibility for penalties since joining Inter this summer. In just his second game, Lukaku slotted the winner from the spot against Cagliari, and with Mauro Icardi having left the club, is set to be the primary spot-kick taker this season.
Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo (€11.5m)
The all-time top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League has always been clinical from the spot, with 16 of his 126 goals coming via that route. Having not missed a penalty in this competition in almost five years, Ronaldo is as reliable a penalty taker as you'll find.
Leipzig: Emil Forsberg (€6.5m)
The Swedish international converted Leipzig's most recent spot kick in a Bundesliga draw against Bayern and he has proven to be a reliable taker in recent seasons. That successful conversion was his seventh in a row for Leipzig.
Leverkusen: Kai Havertz (€5.5m)
After Wendell missed a penalty back in October 2018, spot-kick duties were handed to playmaker Havertz and the talented youngster has converted all three penalties since being handed that responsibility.
Liverpool: James Milner (€5.5m)
Penalty duties were shared at Liverpool last season between Milner and Mohamed Salah. Salah has taken and scored Liverpool's only penalty in 2019/20, although Milner was on the bench at the time and is expected to be the designated taker if on the pitch.
Lokomotiv Moskva: Aleksei Miranchuk (€6.5m)
Anton Miranchuk looked to be Lokomotiv's main penalty taker until he missed one back in July in a 1-1 draw with Rubin Kazan. The club's next penalty was taken, and scored, by his twin brother Aleksei in the 2-1 win against Dinamo Moskva, and he looks set to assume duties when he returns after injury.
LOSC: Jonathan Bamba (€5.5m)
Nicolas Pépé was the regular penalty taker last season but since his departure, Bamba looks to be the man. He has taken two so far this season, scoring in a 3-0 win against St-Étienne, but missing in a defeat against Reims.
Lyon: Memphis Depay (€8.0m)
Penalties were an issue for Lyon last season as they missed five of their 12 attempts. Of last season's three spot-kick takers, Nabil Fekir has departed, Depay missed his two penalties, while Moussa Dembélé was the only player with a perfect record, convering all three kicks. Depay took and scored Lyon's penalty in the matchday one draw with Zenit, and is thus likely to remain first choice.
Manchester City: Sergio Agüero (€10.5m)
Agüero scored one and missed one penalty in last season's UEFA Champions League. City have already been awarded two penalties so far this season and the Argentinian has scored both of them.
Napoli: Lorenzo Insigne (€8.0m)
Insigne was Napoli's primary penalty taker in 2018/19 and the same seems to be true for this season, with the forward scoring both of his efforts already. Dries Mertens scored from the spot against Liverpool on matchday one, but Insigne was off the pitch at the time.
Olympiacos: Mathieu Valbuena (€6.0m)
With regular penalty taker Konstantinos Fortounis out injured until 2020, Valbuena has assumed spot-kick duties, converting four in four including one against Tottenham on matchday one.
Paris: Neymar (€11.5m)
Since signing for Paris, Neymar has scored all ten of the penalties he has taken for the French club. The Brazilian has now scored his last 12 penalties for club and country, a run that stretches back to November 2017.
Real Madrid: Sergio Ramos (€6.5m)
Following Cristiano Ronaldo's 2018 departure to Juventus, Ramos has been Real Madrid's primary penalty taker. The club have yet to be awarded a spot kick this season but Ramos took eight during 2018/19, finding the net with all of them.
Salzburg: Hee-Chan Hwang (€6.0m)
Salzburg have already had five penalties in all competitions this season and Erling Braut Haaland has taken and converted two of them. Both of those have come when Hee-Chan Hwang has not been on the pitch, and seniority may mean the South Korean gets the nod.
Shakhtar Donetsk: Taison (€5.5m)
Shakhtar Donetsk have been awarded two penalties this season, Marlos missing the first and Taison scoring the second. Taison was given the second penalty even though Marlos was on the pitch, suggesting the Brazilian is now first choice.
Slavia Praha: Tomáš Souček (€5.5m)
Slavia had a number of penalty takers throughout 2018/19, but seem to have settled on Souček as the primary taker, the midfielder having stepped up for all three of the side's penalties this season.
Tottenham: Harry Kane (€11.0m)
There is no doubting who is the regular taker for Tottenham, nor England for that matter. Kane has converted 16 of his last 17 spot kicks for club and country, and is one of the most reliable takers around.
Valencia: Daniel Parejo (€5.0m)
Parejo has scored 26 of his 33 spot kicks (79%); in 2019/20 he currently has a 100% record having scored all three penalties.
Zenit: Sardar Azmoun (€7.0m)
Zenit have been awarded five penalties so far in 2019/20 and have had four different takers. Sardar Azmoun is the only player to have taken two and, although he missed his most recent effort, seems the likeliest to step up next time.