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| Photo by Mateo Villalba Sanchez/Getty Images |
Real Madrid edged past Olympique de Marseille with a 2-1 win in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It was a closely-fought match ultimately decided by two penalties for the home team, converted by superstar Kylian Mbappe.
Most penalties in UCL history
Spanish statistician Alexis María Martín-Tamayo Blázquez – better known as MisterChip – revealed on his X account that with the second penalty against Marseille, Real Madrid have now been awarded 63 penalties in the Champions League.
That tally sees the 15-time winners surpass Bayern Munich to become the club with the most penalties in the competition’s history.
Bayern Munich occupy the second place with 62 penalties awarded while Barcelona are third, with 56 spot-kicks given in their favour so far.
Controversy surrounding Real Madrid’s second penalty
Real Madrid were awarded the first penalty in the first half for a poor challenge on Rodrygo Goes by Geoffrey Kondogbia and Mbappe had no problem tucking it away.
The second one came after the half-time break for a handball by Facundo Medina and the Frenchman found the back of the net from the penalty spot again.
However, the referee’s decision to award Real Madrid the penalty for the handball sparked some controversy, with Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi and director Medhi Benatia both questioning the call.
"The second penalty was a bit embarrassing, and I would say that if it had been awarded to me,” De Zerbi said, as quoted by MARCA.
“It’s a very difficult penalty to accept, but I already experienced it here seven years ago (with Juventus in 2018). I have the same feeling,” Benatia noted, insinuating favourable treatment towards Real Madrid.
- Raghavendra Goudar
