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: Set Piece Takers for the Premier League
Here’s a table below which breaks down the expected penalty, free kick and corner kick takers based on things like match footage from last season, statistics, as well as the odd pre-season friendly and a bit of personal instinct.
Bundesliga competition set piece takers list
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayer Leverkusen | Patrik Schik | Kerem Demirbay | Kerem Demirbay | Nadiem Amiri | - | Kerem Demirbay | Nadiem Amiri | - |
| Hoffenheim | Kramaric | Munas Dabbur | Skov | Kramaric | - | Geiger | Skov | - |
| Mainz 05 | Marcus Ingvartsen | Jonathan Burkardt | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Union Berlin | TBC | - | Andrich | - | - | Trimmel | - | - |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Filip Kostić | Rafael Santos Borré | Filip Kostić | Aymen Barkok | Daichi Kamada | Filip Kostić | Aymen Barkok | Daichi Kamada |
| Hertha Berlin | Davie Selke | Dodi Lukebakio | Mittelstadt | Dodi Lukebakio | Marco Richter | Plattenhardt | Mittelstadt | Dodi Lukebakio |
| SC Freiburg | Vincenzo Grifo | Petersen | Gunter | Vincenzo Grifo | - | Gunter | Schmid | - |
| Stuttgart | Sasa Kalajdzic | Silas Katompa Mvumpa | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Bayern Munich | Thomas Muller | Joshua Kimmich | Joshua Kimmich | Serge Gnabry | Leroy Sane | Joshua Kimmich | Serge Gnabry | Kingsley Coman |
| VfL Bochum | TBC | Manuel Riemann | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Wolfsburg | Max Kruse | Maximilian Arnold | Maximilian Arnold | William | - | Maximilian Arnold | Mehmedi | Josip Brekalo |
| Schalke 04 | Simon Terodde | Sebastian Polter | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Borussia Moenchengladbach | Alassane Plea | Remy Bensebaini | Jonas Hofmann | Alassane Plea | Lars Stindl | Jonas Hofmann | Alassane Plea | Florian Nehaus |
| Borussia Dortmund | Marco Reus | Emre Can | Marco Reus | Raphael Guerreiro | Emre Can | Marco Reus | Raphael Guerreiro | Thorgan Hazard |
| Werder Bremen | Marvin Ducksch | Niclas Füllkrug | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Augsburg | Daniel Caligiuri | Jeffrey Gouweleeuw | Daniel Caligiuri | - | - | Daniel Caligiuri | - | - |
| 1. FC Koln | Ondrej Duda | Sebastian Andersson | Kainz | - | Kainz | - | ||
| RB Leipzig | Emil Forsberg | André Silva | Christopher Nkunku | Angelino | Halstenberg | Angelino | Christopher Nkunku | - |
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.
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.
