Twenty four players have scored penalty kicks since the beginning of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League (UCL). Most of them have scored one or two. There is only one footballer that has scored five spot kicks in the current edition of the tournament. Who is this penalty king?
This lone player is João Mário Naval da Costa Eduardo. The Angolan-born Portuguese star scored this quintet of penalties for Benfica in the competition. The central midfielder netted his first goal from the spot on September 14, 2022 when the 2012/13 Europa League runners up visited Juventus in a Group D encounter. His 43rd minute penalty gave Os Encarnados an equalizer before David Neres got the winner in the second half. He repeated the feat in the return leg after a handball in the 18-yard box by Juan Cuadrado.
Mario's only other penalty goal of the group stage came against Paris Saint-Germain on October 11. He netted it in sixty two minutes into the match following a foul on Rafa. This helped to bring the game to 1-1 draw. Like he did against Juventus, the Portugal international scored one penalty in each of the two round of 16 meets with Club Brugge. During the first leg in Belgium, he scored a 51st minute spot kick to give his side the lead before David Neres made it 2-0 in the 88th minute. In the second leg, the 2019 UEFA Nations League winner got his fifth goal from the spot in 2022/23 UCL.
The player that has taken the highest number of spot kicks in the competition is Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City. However, the Algerian forward only scored one of his three penalties. It is worthy of note that Mario has only scored one non-penalty since the tournament began.
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