Burnley, Liverpool, Cologne and Barcelona are the four European teams, so far this season, that have not been awarded a penalty against. These clubs from the five most important leagues in Europe have not been penalized for any of the 399 penalties that have been reported at this stage of the campaign. In the case of English Burnley and the German Cologne, the circumstance is that they have not been awarded any penalty either. However, Both Klopp’s Liverpool and Barcelona, now coached by Xavi, have given him maximum penalties. Specifically, six to each of them.
Undoubtedly, they are two of the teams that come out best in terms of penalties for and against so far in the competition, although the best balance it has so far is Spalletti’s Naples. The Italians have only had to face a penalty against and have had ten shots in favor. Manchester City and Brest don’t come out badly from this statistic either: they have been given only one penalty against, but they have been awarded seven in favor.
But beyond the 2021-22 campaign, in the last four seasons PSG, Liverpool, Barcelona or Augsburg are the teams that have been among those who have received the fewest penalties against. In the 19-20 and 20-21 seasons, the Parisian team was the team that has received the fewest penalties against them in all of Europe. What’s more, Last season, 20-21, he had thirteen maximum penalties in favor of two against and in the previous one (19-20), he did not suffer any penalty against and enjoyed eight in favor. Undoubtedly, these data allow them to face the Parisians, with some peace of mind, the plays in their own area.
Looking at the data in LaLiga Santander, Barcelona is the team with the best balance of the Spanish domestic competition. It so happens that dSince the introduction of VAR in the 2018-19 season, this is the first campaign in which a team from the Spanish competition has not been awarded a penalty against. Xavi’s team has not yet been awarded a maximum penalty, a peculiar situation Bearing in mind that in recent months handball offenses within the areas have been closely watched and the number of penalties awarded in this type of action has increased. So far this season, 32 penalties have been called per hand, while in the entire past a total of 43 were called. Precisely, the controversy has splashed the Camp Nou team several times throughout the competition. The last time in the match against Elche for a hand from Jordi Alba, which the VAR and field referees did not consider punishable.
To find a team that at this point in the championship did not take any penalties against, it would be necessary to go back to the 16-17 season, before the implementation of VAR. It was precisely the Barcelona that Luis Enrique trained. Precisely, it was the Barça team that had the fewest maximum penalties against them in three of the last four seasons prior to the implementation of VAR. After the introduction of VAR, Real Madrid (19-20 season) and Alavés (20-21) have also managed, in one season, to be the teams with the fewest penalties against.