Bundesliga Set Piece Takers

A new football season in Germany is about to get fully underway and I thought it would be an opportune time to highlight all the Bundesliga set piece takers tasked with making a difference for their teams in this aspect of the game.

Related articles: Set piece takers for the Premier League and Dutch Eredivisie set piece takers for 2023

This article will breaks down the expected penalty, free kick and corner kick takers.

Data will be based on things like match footage from last season, statistics, as well as the odd pre-season friendly and a bit of personal instinct.

Set piece takers for Bundesliga’s top four teams

Most of you will be looking to know who takes the penalties and free kicks for Germany’s most popular club teams.

So, we’re going to cut right to the chase and provide this information for you.

Let’s get started then…

Bayern Munich

Ever since the exodus of Robert Lewandowski to Spanish side FC Barcelona, the designated penalty taker hasn’t been clear cut.

New signing Sadio Mane has taken two spot kicks in the current campaign at the time of writing, scoring one and missing the other.

We’ve also seen Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting miss his only attempt from the spot.

Therefore, it remains to be seen which player will solidify their status as the team’s top taker, because it wouldn’t be surprising to witness an experienced player like Thomas Muller or Joshua Kimmich decide to take up this mantle themselves.

On the matter of free kicks and corners, things are a lot more settled.

Joshua Kimmich generally monopolizes these, with other players like Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry getting a few chances to take set pieces every now and then.

Borussia Dortmund

Erling Haaland left Dortmund for Manchester City in the summer before the season kicked off, opening up penalty taking duty for the second best team in the division.

Marco Reus – as captain of the team – would normally take the penalties.

But unfortunately for him, he’s out injured most of the time!

That gives a chance to other players to make their mark here.

Last season we saw Emre Can take a penalty when Reus wasn’t on the field, and this season we’ve seen the American sensation Giovanni Reyna step up and convert.

Maybe Reyna will get to keep this responsibility as he’s having a consistent run of playing time, accompanied with good performance form.

Free kicks and corners should mainly be taken by Raphael Guerreiro, as the Portuguese man is really good at getting the soccer ball up and over the wall when such a chance presents itself.

RB Leipzig

Christopher Nkunku looks to be in charge of penalties for the Red Bull side.

He’s scored from two of his three attempts this season, whilst his backup Emil Forsberg has managed to convert once from the spot as well.

Although it must be noted that Nkunku is set to join Chelsea next year, which means that Forsberg is likely to become the primary taker the following campaign.

We may also see the return of Andre Silva here, as the Portuguese man hasn’t been at his best since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Meanwhile, corners and free kicks should be shared between:

• Christopher Nkunku;
• Dominik Szoboszlai;
• Dani Olmo; and
• Marcel Halstenberg

Eintracht Frankfurt

Finally we have Eintracht Frankfurt.

They used to have a set formula of getting the ball to Filip Kostic on the left wing, who would then whip in an amazing cross for their central striker to get on the end of.

But since Kostic left, they’ve had to change their playing contingent a little bit.

Daichi Kamada now takes their penalties, with Rafael Santos Borre and Randal Kolo Muani deputizing in the Japanese player’s absence.

Kamada also takes free kicks and corners, sharing this responsibility with Mario Götze.

Set piece takers from the Bundesliga’s newly promoted teams

Unlike other European leagues which see three teams rise up and another three demoted to a lower division, Bundesliga rules stipulate that only two teams can be relegated from the first division of German football in a single season.

So, let’s take a look at what the two promoted teams have to offer…

Schalke 04

One of the Bundesliga’s most historic teams – Schalke 04 – is back in the top division after they were relegated back in the 2020/2021 campaign.

Simon Terrode took two penalties for them last season – which he managed to convert – so you can expect him to be on penalty duty when he’s on the pitch.

Werder Bremen

Werder Bremen were awarded a sum of 6 penalty kicks across the course of the 2. Bundesliga, with Dutch centre forward Marvin Ducksch converting three of those.

He has a 100% penalty taking record at the moment and I’d expect him to step up if an opportunity presents itself in the new season.

But as a backup option, his strike partner Niclas Füllkrug can also step in when needed, as he converted twice from the spot in 2. Bundesliga from two attempts.

Which team scored the most set piece goals in the 2021-22 Bundesliga campaign?

SC Freiburg recorded the most set piece goals in the Bundesliga last season with an impressive tally of 19, and they were followed closely by Bayern Munich who had 18 set piece goals to their name.

When it came to penalties, Borussia Dortmund led the pack with a total of 11 scored.

With Erling Haaland transferred to Manchester City, you’d expect the bulk of that penalty taking duty will be handed over to club captain Marco Reus.

Complete Bundesliga competition set piece takers list

Here’s the full list of set piece takers for your perusal:

Final thoughts

I hope you found this post useful as I’m aware it’s a topic that comes with a lot of questions, along with the need to keep information up to date.

If you want to improve your own set piece skills, get yourself a football mannequin set to put in your backyard for practice!

Also check out our 2022 FIFA World Cup set piece takers list, seeing as the Qatar edition of the tournament is taking place later this year.

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Samuel Waihenya

CEO & Digital Publisher at Cosy Content Limited

Samuel Waihenya is 27 years of age and has been watching, discussing, as well as playing soccer for well over 10 years.

With a solid educational background in business management, the Soccer Whizz website is his first foray into the digital web space and it has been created with the intention of providing the absolute best soccer content for its readership.

Have a read through Samuel Waihenya's author bio page here.

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