Real Madrid's penalty drought
Why Los Blancos went 24 matches without winning a penalty
When Karim Benzema opened the scoring from the penalty spot in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win at Cadiz last Wednesday, it ended the club’s run of 24 La Liga matches without being awarded a penalty. It was Real Madrid’s longest league run without a penalty since 1974. Today, we are going to look at why.
Photo: Manu Fernández/AP
Real Madrid did score two Champions League penalties in the interim (Eden Hazard against Inter in November, and Sergio Ramos against Atalanta in March), but nothing in La Liga, until Cadiz defender Iza brought down Vinicius in the area (below), and a VAR check confirmed a penalty.
Their rivals might have guessed it was coming. Only a few weeks ago, Gerard Pique avoided punishment following an investigation by the Spanish FA after suggesting referees favour Real Madrid because most Spanish referees are Real supporters.
Historically, this has always been up for debate. Last season’s title race hinged on a controversial penalty decision when Casemiro avoided conceding a penalty despite seeming to bring down Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata when he was clean through on goal. Former Atletico striker Paulo Futre tweeted: “The robbery of a penalty by Casemiro on Morata was so great that it will be used in the next season of Money Heist.”
You could go back every season and find a Real Madrid penalty controversy. In 2018, it was a generous stoppage-time spot-kick that allowed them to sneak past Juventus in the Champions League. Sport newspaper called the decision Robbery of the Century. In 2017, Villarreal owner Fernando Roig claimed the referee left the stadium with Real Madrid bags after another controversial penalty decision.
None caused as much fuss as Asunto Guruceta (the Guruceta Affair), in the 1970 Copa del Rey quarter-final. Real Madrid were 2-1 up against Barcelona but wobbling, when young Basque referee Emilio Guruceta awarded Madrid a penalty when Velázquez was tackled outside of the box by Quimet Rifé.
The story is told in Phil Ball’s excellent Real Madrid history White Storm. Barcelona’s Eladio was sent off for his protests while Barca coach Vic Buckingham had to sweet-talk his players into finishing the game after they had walked off in protest. When fans, who were singing anti-Madrid songs, threw bottles onto the pitch, Guruceta blew for full-time two minutes before 90 minutes were up. [No-one has ever proved Guruceta was bribed in this game, but he was found guilty of accepting an £18,000 payment from Anderlecht to fix the 1984 UEFA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.]
And so, to this season. What has happened since Matchday 7, when Sergio Ramos scored from the spot at Barcelona? There had been 101 penalties awarded in La Liga since then! Madrid director Emilio Butragueño even complained after last November’s defeat to Valencia that Madrid were being unfairly treated by VAR (although he was quieter last season, when Madrid won 11 penalties, more than any other team.)
I ask Phil Ball, author of White Storm, and he suggests that VAR, alongside empty stadia, could be levelling things up.
“The conspiracy theorists will point to VAR and say that for all its flaws, it is nevertheless a check on refs' tendency to favour Madrid, for whatever reason. There are plenty of political and possibly financial reasons to be a 'good' ref in Spain (which means 'not being an obviously anti-Madrid’ ref). Refs who retire are offered jobs in the media and in plump admin positions in the structure of the league, and it's no coincidence that these types are thicker on the ground, in those positions. Also, the lack of fans for this entire season has also helped refs to not buckle under pressure. I think these are real factors. Refs who turned down pens for Madrid were usually subjected to public lynchings by the pro-Madrid media.”
The Athletic’s La Liga supremo Dermot Corrigan has another theory:
“Real Madrid have been unlucky with some calls, which their fans have certainly noticed. They have mostly blamed a conspiracy with biased officials against them, which we can discount. But I think the main reason is that they don’t get the ball into the box enough. They play a lot on the counter and Benzema drops deep to link things.”
Ball thinks the tactical theory also stacks up. “Their more cautious style of play this season could be the reason; they're just not getting into so many putative-penalty situations,” he says. He adds that if Madrid have been unlucky, then their unlucky would be more or less the same unlucky that many smaller clubs in La Liga feel all the time. Fair enough!
If this is a tactical issue, there’s only one man to turn to. Author of Zonal Marking, Michael Cox. His verdict is that it’s more about the personnel than the tactics (notwithstanding Eden Hazard’s injury issues):
“I can only think that because Real Madrid don't play as many tricky dribblers as they used to, they're winning less penalties. Someone like Vinicius seems better in open spaces, and seems to win a lot of free-kicks, but maybe doesn't have the trickery in the box.”
It could be a combination of all these factors: VAR, no crowds, cautious tactics, and fewer dribblers. Or, as Ball adds: “Maybe it just is what it is: one barren penalty season.” Take your pick!
A final note on the penalty scorer for Madrid. Benzema has played second fiddle in penalty duties first to Cristiano Ronaldo and now to Sergio Ramos. His penalty effort, captured below, was his eleventh consecutive scored penalty in La Liga – as the wonderful MisterChip reminds us, Fernando Hierro is the only other player to score his first 11 penalties for the club. Bravo Benzi!
PEN PALS:
This is pressure: Wycombe’s Ade Akinfewa steps up for a last-minute penalty to beat Bristol City 2-1 and give his side hope of avoiding the drop. Akinfewa had not scored in 32 previous Championship appearances, and his last penalty was in October 2019. But he makes no mistake, slotting in GK-Independent to his non-natural side to keep Wycombe’s survival hopes alive. Fantastic!
Chelsea women remain on track for success in the league and Champions League and this is in no small part down to their penalty record. Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger kept out three penalties in European ties against Atletico Madrid (two) and Wolfsburg (one). Last week, despite the absence of Chelsea’s first-choice penalty-taker Maren Mjelde, Pernille Harder steps up and does this from the spot in the crucial 2-2 draw at Man City:
St Johnstone goalkeeper Zander Clark saves two penalties in Sunday’s 4-2 shoot-out win to knock Rangers out of the Scottish Cup – after his header from a corner sets up an injury-time equaliser. (He is the third goalkeeper in two weeks to contribute to a goal from a late corner, after Arsenal’s Mat Ryan and Wycombe’s David Stockdale. Keepers, get up there!) Clark keeps out James Tavernier (right-footed, GK-Independent down the middle) and Kemar Roofe (right-footed, GK-Independent to non-natural side) as St Johnstone earn a place in the semi-final.
Photo: Rob Casey / SNS Group
This, from The Athletic, is a fascinating piece on the art of the ‘modern penalty’. It explores the increase of penalties awarded in the corners of the penalty box, awarded against defenders who are not making conventional tackles for contact on attacking players whose primary objective seems to be winning a penalty. The necessary change in approach for defenders is clear: “It’s not simply about not making a tackle, but completely avoiding any possibility of contact with an attacker.” Agreed!
Please share any penalty thoughts or further questions to me either by commenting below or at @benlyt.
If you enjoyed this post, please spread the word about Twelve Yards and share this with your network. If you’re new, you can see recent pieces including: how Diego Alves became the penalty scourge of La Liga, Pep Guardiola’s surprisingly impressive record in penalty shoot-outs, which players will be next to score penalties with both feet, the Chilean defender who hates penalties but keeps scoring, the Argentine penalty tradition sweeping across empty stadia in Europe, why Lionel Messi is average at penalties, how Robert Lewandowski became a penalty killer, who really invented the two-touch penalty (and Robert Pires relives his trauma), why it’s better to aim high than low, the great Ederson penalty debate, an interview with Antonin Panenka, how to define a true Panenka, how to end Antoine Griezmann’s run of five missed penalties in a row, penalty records in empty stadia, and Barcelona’s first shoot-out win in 23 years. Thank you!
Ben Lyttleton is the author of Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Perfect Penalty
