Real Madrid have won most penalties in Europe's top 5 leagues, Barcelona lag behind

Real Madrid’s victory against Real Sociedad at Santiago Bernabeu saw them extend their lead as the team in Europe’s top five leagues to have won the most penalties.

As Pulse Sports reported, Brazil international Vinícius Júnior won and converted two spot-kicks during the match to help Los Blancos beat La Real and depose Barcelona as LALIGA leaders.

The 25-year-old was a thorn on the right side of Real Sociedad’s backline, drawing two penalties from young Venezuelan defender Jon Aramburu. With Kylian Mbappe absent, Vinicius stepped up and beat Alex Remiro both times.

Winning both penalties took the 36-time LALIGA champions’ tally to a staggering 13 penalties won in the Spanish top flight this season. This figure places Álvaro Arbeloa’s squad comfortably at the summit of Europe’s top five leagues for penalties awarded. 

According to Opta Jose, the continent's top five penalty-winning teams are currently led by Real Madrid (13), followed distantly by the Bundesliga's Bayern Munich (9) and Mainz 05 (8), the Premier League's Brentford (8), and Ligue 1's Brest (8).

As with every other thing in LALIGA, Real Madrid’s ability to draw fouls in the penalty area has been compared to their eternal rivals, Barcelona. The tone of the comparison has been tinged with conspiracy, with Los Blancos’ detractors citing their luck as evidence of bias.

Having successfully scored 10 of their 13 awarded spot-kicks, penalties now account for 10 of their 53 total LaLiga goals, giving them a penalty-to-goal ratio of approximately 18.87%. 

Compared to Barcelona, who have been awarded just six spot-kicks in LaLiga this season, scoring four, giving them a penalty-to-goal ratio of approximately 6.3% for the percentage of their total goals (63).