Stellar athletes affiliated with Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Bayer Leverkusen have unexpectedly underwhelming performances when taking penalties during the 2024-25 season.

Overall, an effective penalty kicker can typically score from at least 75% of the penalties they take, yet every player featured here has seen their conversion rate fall short of that mark this season.

After examining global soccer more closely, we discovered seven prominent players who have unexpectedly poor penalty kick records this season.

Vinicius Junior

The Brazilian winger is unquestionably among the top players globally at present; however, recently, he has struggled quite a bit with his penalty kicks.

This season, Kylian Mbappé has mostly handled Real Madrid’s penalties, although Vinícius has attempted two and hasn’t scored either.

Last month, when taking a penalty against Atletico Madrid, he sent the ball flying over the crossbar. The most recent penalty kick against Valencia was surprisingly weak.

Vinicius partially atoned for his mistake by finding the back of the net later in the match; however, Real Madrid ultimately ended up losing with a scoreline of 2-1.

"Bellingham, Mbappe, and Vinicius were absent," Carlo Ancelotti informed reporters after Vini’s most recent miss.

I've attempted to instill confidence in him, yet he failed at this one as well.

Given that he has failed to convert his last two penalty kicks, it seems likely that either Mbappe or Jude Bellingham will take over responsibility for them moving forward.

Erling Haaland

Throughout his whole career, Haaland has maintained an impressive penalty conversion rate of 85.9%.

In 2024-25, however, he has seen his success rate for converting penalties drop to 57.1%.

After missing penalties against Sporting, Everton, and Bournemouth, Haaland has had a somewhat disappointing season regarding his performance in penalty kicks.

Florian Wirtz

The Bayer Leverkusen forward is among the most promising young talents in Europe currently; however, he has had some inconsistent performances when taking penalties this season.

Before the 2024-25 season, Wirtz had never failed to convert a penalty kick, until August when Jonas Omlin stopped his attempt. However, it should be noted that the 21-year-old still managed to score from the follow-up.

Despite missing another chance by failing to convert his penalty against Freiburg, Wirtz maintains a 60% success rate when taking penalties this season.

Hugo Ekitike

The ex-PSG player has been performing impressively after moving to Eintrcht Frankfurt, netting 19 times in total across various tournaments.

Although he excels when playing openly, his penalty kicks have not matched the same standard.

So far, this 22-year-old player has attempted three penalty kicks this season, yet he has successfully converted just one.

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Vincenzo Grifo

The player, who is 32 years old, has had a decent season with Freiburg, but his penalty record might be best left unmentioned.

Out of the four penalty kicks he has attempted in the 2024-25 season, he has managed to score only once, resulting in a disappointing success rate of merely 25%.

Raheem Sterling

Throughout his whole career, Sterling has maintained an rather poor track record regarding penalty kicks.

That's why he has not received numerous chances over the past few seasons to improve his skills when taking penalties.

Earlier in the season, he botched a penalty against Girona, and this has resulted in him missing his last three consecutive penalties. Yikes.

Karim Benzema

Earlier this season, the French player missed a penalty against Al-Fayha, resulting in his current conversion rate from the spot being 0%.

Interestingly, Benzema has found it difficult to convert many penalty kicks since signing with Al-Ittihad in 2023.

Altogether, the 37-year-old has attempted six penalties since joining Saudi Arabia and has scored only two. Given how proficient Benzema typically is, this penalty record is quite disappointing.