This Tuesday, Real Madrid kicked off their UEFA Champions League 2025–26 campaign with a hard-fought victory in the final minutes against Olympique Marseille. The win not only gave them three valuable points in the standings, but also allowed them to surpass Bayern Munich and claim a historic record.
Things had initially gone in favor of the French side, who opened the scoring through Tim Weah in the 22nd minute of the first half. However, just moments later, Kylian Mbappe leveled the match from the penalty spot. Near the final whistle—while Los Blancos were down to 10 men following a red card to Dani Carvajal—another penalty from Mbappe sealed the 2–1 victory.
With that, Real Madrid became the club with the most penalties awarded in Champions League history. They have now reached an impressive total of 63 penalties, surpassing Bayern Munich by one. Before Tuesday’s match, the German club led the stat with 62.
Rounding out the top three is Barcelona, currently in third with 56 penalties awarded throughout their history in the competition. Further down the list are two Premier League clubs whose European involvement has grown significantly in recent decades: Manchester City (37) and Arsenal (36).
Kylian Mbappe shooting from the penalty spot for Real Madrid vs OM.
Real Madrid’s penalty average in the Champions League
While the raw number of penalties clearly puts Real Madrid at the top of the ranking, a few clarifications are necessary to give full context to the statistic. Los Blancos are the club with the most matches played in the history of the European tournament, dating back to its creation in 1960. Including Tuesday’s match against Olympique Marseille, they’ve played a total of 504 Champions League matches. That results in an average of 0.125 penalties per match.
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By contrast, several clubs with fewer total appearances have a significantly higher average, indicating a greater frequency of penalties awarded per match. For example, Barcelona have been awarded 56 penalties in 363 matches (an average of 0.154); while Bayern Munich’s average stands at 0.151 (62 penalties in 408 matches).
Other Real Madrid records in the Champions League
It’s undeniable that Real Madrid are the most dominant club in Champions League history. They top the all-time titles list with 15, far ahead of their closest competitor, AC Milan, who have 7.
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Los Blancos have also participated in the tournament more times than any other club—45 out of 66 editions—and, as mentioned, they’ve played the most matches (504). Additionally, they’ve reached the final a record 18 times and have featured the competition’s all-time leading scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, though his goals also came while playing for Manchester United and Juventus.
