Serie A sides awarded more penalties than anyone in Europe

Serie A teams see more penalties awarded than their European counterparts in the top five leagues.

An analysis covering the whole 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons as well as what has been played of the 2019/20 campaign so far shows Serie A on top of the list.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports the study undertaken by Swiss statistics organisation, CIES Football Observatory, highlighting that Serie A referees have awarded 367 penalties in 1016 matches, with a penalty being given every 249 minutes.

Second on the list is French Ligue 1 with a penalty awarded every 262 minutes and while La Liga is third with 268 minutes for a referee to award one in Spain.

Lazio are the team that have been awarded penalties more than anyone else in Italy and the rest of Europe, earning one every 296 minutes.

French giants Paris Saint-Germain are second with 320 minutes and Italian side Sampdoria with penalties awarded every 325 minutes are third overall.

Serie A giants Juventus are seventh in Europe with a penalty given once every 383 minutes.