10 teams that have received the most penalties in a single season in the 21st century

Bruno Fernandes, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored a lot of goals from penalties this season.
Bruno Fernandes, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored a lot of goals from penalties this season.

T5. Chelsea - 18 Penalties (66 games) | 2012-13

Frank Lampard has scored more penalties in the Premier League than any other player.
Frank Lampard has scored more penalties in the Premier League than any other player.

The first Premier League team on our list is Chelsea. The West London outfit are tied at the fifth spot thanks to the 18 penalties they won in the 2012-13 campaign. They finished third in the Premier League that season and won the Europa League as well, though they did not score a single goal from the spot in the continental tournament.

Frank Lampard, their current manager and the player with most goals from the penalty spot in the league, took seven penalties and converted six of them that term.


T5. Real Madrid - 18 Penalties (59 games) | 2017-18

Cristiano Ronaldo was the spot-kick specialist at Real Madrid in his final seasons with the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the spot-kick specialist at Real Madrid in his final seasons with the club.

Real Madrid's presence on this list should come as no surprise to fans of La Liga, who are no strangers to the claim that officials are heavily biased towards them in league games.

In the 2017-18 season, they won 18 penalties and were able to score 16 goals from them. Cristiano Ronaldo scored seven goals from the spot that season and became La Liga's record spot-kick scorer that campaign.


#4 Juventus - 19 Penalties (52 games) | 2019-20

Ronaldo missed out on the Serie A top scorer award this season.
Ronaldo missed out on the Serie A top scorer award this season.

Three sides in the top five have made it to this list only after the 2019-20 campaign. One can only wonder whether the introduction of VAR might be one of the reasons for the spike in penalties being awarded.

Juventus, who lifted their ninth consecutive Serie A title this season, were awarded 19 penalties this season and converted 17 of them, with their top scorer Ronaldo missing two penalties, one in the league and the other in the Coppa Italia semi-final.

According to Italian journalist Carlo Nesti, the Old Lady benefitted the most from the officials in Serie A this season and had 45 decisions awarded in their favour, 15 more than Inter Milan.


T3. Barcelona - 20 Penalties (61 games) | 2011-12

Lionel Messi scored 50 goals in the 2011-12 season.
Lionel Messi scored 50 goals in the 2011-12 season.

Barcelona are the second Spanish side to feature in this list and were the first ones to have received 20 penalties in a season in the 21st century. In the 2011-12 season, they were awarded 20 spot-kicks and found the back of the net with all but three of them.

Lionel Messi took 17 of the 20 penalties and of the 73 goals that he scored that term, 14 were from the spot. Though they failed to win the La Liga that season, it was Messi's best season with the Blaugrana and he would also go on to finish 2012 with 91 goals.


Also See: Goalkeepers who have saved the most penalties in the 21st century

Quick Links