5 of the most prolific penalty takers in La Liga history

Taking a penalty can be a nerve-wracking experience. Players with the skill as well mentality are usually entrusted by the manager to take spot kicks for the team. With so much riding on a single kick of the ball, it takes a special kind of player to successfully do it over and over again in crunch situations.

Let us take a look at the top goal-scorers from the spot in La Liga history.

Disclaimer: The stats are taken from Wikipedia and tranfermarkt.com

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#5 Lyuboslav Penev - 43

Lyuboslav Penev

The current Valencia B manager played at a host of top Spanish clubs during his playing career. The former Atletico, Valencia, Compostela and Celta Vigo man scored an impressive 43 penalties during his time in the Spanish top division.

The Bulgarian international was a mainstay of the Valencia sides of the early '90s and won the La Liga and Copa Del Rey with Atletico Madrid in the double winning season of 1995/96. He scored an impressive 22 goals in all competitions that season.

#4 Ronald Koeman - 46

Koeman sure knew how to score despite being a defender

Ronald Koeman's record as a penalty taking central defender of Barcelona is flawless.

Quite simply the best goal scoring defender in Liga history, the Dutch maestro was as composed on the ball as he was at making a tackle. He spent 6 seasons in Spain, all with Barcelona, and won the league an impressive 4 times. His return tally of 46 goals from the spot is equally impressive.

#3 Lionel Messi - 47

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi needs no introduction. The 5 time Ballon d'Or winner has missed his fair share of important penalties during his time at the Catalan side but that does not take away the fact that he is still regularly scoring penalties and racking in the goals.

Messi has scored 47 goals from the spot in La Liga till now, a figure we can all be sure will increase and be a record by the time the diminutive Argentine hangs up his boots. Besides, he has even managed to assist from the penalty spot, as he squared the ball for Luis Suarez.

#2 Hugo Sanchez - 56

Hugo Sanchez has won the golden boot a record four times in a row

Quite simply the best Mexican footballer of all time, the Real Madrid legend had a swell time tormenting opposition defences in La Liga, first at Atletico Madrid and then at city rivals Real. He spent 11 seasons in the city of Madrid with 7 of them for Los Galacticos.

Voted as the 26th best footballer of the 20th century, Sanchez won a host of titles at Real, including an astounding 5 league titles. A prolific scorer, he put the ball in the back of the net an impressive 208 times from just 283 appearances.

Sanchez is also the only player in La Liga history to win the Pichichi award four times in a row, a stat so impressive in that it still stands given that Ronaldo and Messi have been breaking records for fun in La Liga.

The Mexican scored 38 goals in the 1989/90 season and remarkably, all 38 of them were first-time finishes.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo - 59

Cristiano Ronaldo is very dependable from the penalty spot

The current Ballon d'Or holder has amassed an incredible 59 goals from the spot in La Liga so far, all in just 9 seasons at the Spanish Capital. Never afraid to step up and bury the ball from the spot in important situations, Ronaldo famously missed for Manchester United in the Champions League final penalty shootout against Chelsea.

His record for Real Madrid, however, has been impeccable and it is a certainty that his total tally by the time he retires will be much higher than the 59 he has scored till now.