Who is the best penalty taker in Europe's Top 5 Leagues?
The first guess anyone would make is Mario Balotelli. But the stats say that Balotelli doesn’t have the best record in Europe.
In fact, Mario Balotelli missed two penalties during his time at AC Milan – one against Napoli when Pepe Reina denied him in a 2-1 loss and one against Genoa when Matteo Perin saved his penalty in a 1-1 draw.
When you consider the period between August 2010 to October 2014, it is in fact Eden Hazard who has the best penalty record in Europe’s top five leagues.
The Chelsea forward has an incredible 100% record from the spot with Ligue 1 club Lille and Premier League club Chelsea, scoring all 16 penalties he has taken.
The other player with a 100% record is Ligue 1’s Ryad Boudebouz who plays for Bastia. He has scored 11 out of 11 penalties.
La Liga’s best penalty taker is Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo who has scored an incredible 35 goals from 37 penalties in the league.
Hoffenheim’s Sejad Salihovic represents the Bundesliga (21 goals) in this list while the Serie A sees Giuseppe Rossi (13 goals) at the top.
| LEAGUE | PLAYER | CLUB | PENALTIES | GOALS | SUCCESS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | Eden Hazard | Chelsea | 16 | 16 | 100% |
| La Liga | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 37 | 35 | 94.6% |
| Bundesliga | Sejad Salihovic | Hoffenheim | 24 | 21 | 87.5% |
| Serie A | Giuseppe Rossi | Fiorentina | 13 | 12 | 92.3% |
| Ligue 1 | Ryad Boudebouz | Bastia | 11 | 11 | 100% |
Minimum 10 penalties. Stats from ESPNFC.