Europe’s premier competition of champions is set to make a return after a thrilling FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
As a number of teams will be competing in the latter stages of the tournament, we thought it would be a great idea to list each team’s set piece takers.
Here we’re talking about the players responsible for launching whipped free kicks and corners into the opposition box, as well as those tasked with converting penalties from the spot.
Champions League set piece takers list
So, without further ado, let’s go through each group to see which players assume the aforementioned on-field duties.
First up, we have…
Group A
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajax Amsterdam | Dušan Tadić | Steven Berghuis | Dušan Tadić | Steven Berghuis | Dušan Tadić | Steven Berghuis | ||
| Liverpool | Mohamed Salah | Darwin Núñez | Trent Alexander Arnold | Andrew Robertson | Andrew Robertson | Trent Alexander Arnold | ||
| Napoli | Matteo Politano | Hirving Lozano | Matteo Politano | Khvicha Kvaratskhelia | Matteo Politano | Khvicha Kvaratskhelia | Hirving Lozano | |
| Rangers | James Tavernier | Alfredo Morelos | James Tavernier | Ryan Kent | James Tavernier | Ryan Kent |
Napoli and Liverpool progressed to the next round, so all eyes will be on the likes of players like Matteo Politano, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Mohamed Salah when the sides compete in the round of 16.
For the English side, it is important to note that James Milner should overtake Salah in the penalty taking pecking order as he has a remarkable record of 30 penalties scored rom the spot out of a total of 35 attempts.
But whether he manages to step on the pitch is an entirely different question.
Group B
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlético de Madrid | Yannick Carrasco | Antoine Griezmann | Antoine Griezmann | Koke | Antoine Griezmann | Koke | Thomas Lemar | |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Kerem Demirbay | Moussa Diaby | Kerem Demirbay | Nadiem Amiri | Kerem Demirbay | Amine Adli | ||
| Club Brugge | Hans Vanaken | Noa Lang | Hans Vanaken | - | ||||
| Porto | Mehdi Taremi | Mateus Uribe | Otavio | Otavio |
This group features FC Porto and Club Brugge making it to the next round.
For the latter, expect Hans Vanaken to step up when required, whereas the former should have Mehdi Taremi assuming spot kick duty.
Group C
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | Robert Lewandowski | TBC | Ousmane Dembele | Raphinha | Frenkie De Jong | Ousmane Dembele | Raphinha | Pedri |
| Bayern Munich | Sadio Mané | Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting | Joshua Kimmich | Leroy Sane | Joshua Kimmich | Leroy Sane | ||
| Inter Milan | Hakan Çalhanoğlu | Lautaro Martínez | Hakan Çalhanoğlu | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | Hakan Çalhanoğlu | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | ||
| FC Viktoria Plzeň | Tomáš Chorý | - | - |
Bayern Munich and Inter Milan made it through, at the expense of Barcelona.
We expect Joshua Kimmich to maintain his free kick and corner duties, whilst either of Sadio Mane, Choupo-Moting or Thomas Müller could attempt to convert from 12 yards.
Group D
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Daichi Kamada | Rafael Santos Borré | Daichi Kamada | Mario Götze | Daichi Kamada | Mario Götze | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | Harry Kane | Son Heung-min | Harry Kane | Son Heung-min | Dejan Kulusevski | Son Heung-min | Ivan Perisic | Dejan Kulusevski |
| Olympique de Marseille | Dimitri Payet | Alexis Sanchez | Dimitri Payet | Cengiz Ünder | Dimitri Payet | Cengiz Ünder | ||
| Sporting CP | Pedro Gonçalves | Pedro Gonçalves | Francisco Trincão | Pedro Gonçalves | Francisco Trincão |
Despite Harry Kane’s missed penalty at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, you’d expect him to carry on taking the spot kicks for Tottenham.
He’s still got a very good record on them.
Should he be absent, Son Heung-min will deputize.
For Eintracht Frankfurt, Daichi Kamada should be the man for penalties and set pieces.
Group E
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | Jorginho | Pierre Emerick Aubameyang | Reece James | Mason Mount | Ben Chilwell | Ben Chilwell | Mason Mount | Reece James |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Bruno Petković | - | - | |||||
| AC Milan | Olivier Giroud | Theo Hernandez | Rafael Leão | Theo Hernandez | Sandro Tonali | Rafael Leão | Theo Hernandez | Sandro Tonali |
| RB Salzburg | Fernando | Noah Okafor | - | - |
Jorginho sometimes gets criticised for his awkward penalty taking technique, especially when the goalkeeper doesn’t commit to a side.
But when he slots them home, they do look well taken.
He should be on penalties for Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Olivier Giroud should take spot kicks for AC Milan in the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Group F
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | Aaron Mooy | Giorgos Giakoumakis | Aaron Mooy | Aaron Mooy | ||||
| RB Leipzig | Christopher Nkunku | Emil Forsberg | Christopher Nkunku | Dominik Szoboszlai | Dani Olmo | Christopher Nkunku | Dominik Szoboszlai | Dani Olmo |
| Real Madrid | Karim Benzema | Luka Modrić | Toni Kroos | Luka Modrić | Vinícius Júnior | Toni Kroos | Luka Modrić | Vinícius Júnior |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | Danylo Sikan | Lassina Traoré | - | - |
Karim Benzema should line up for Real Madrid penalties, with RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku taking the German side’s spot kicks before joining English side Chelsea in the summer.
Group G
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borussia Dortmund | Marco Reus | Giovanni Reyna | Marco Reus | Julian Brandt | Giovanni Reyna | Giovanni Reyna | Julian Brandt | |
| F.C. Copenhagen | Pep Biel | - | - | - | ||||
| Manchester City | Erling Haaland | İlkay Gündoğan / Riyad Mahrez | Kevin De Bruyne | Riyad Mahrez | Bernardo Silva | Riyad Mahrez | Phil Foden | Bernardo Silva |
| Sevilla | Youssef En-Nesyri | Ivan Rakitic | Joan Jordan | Ivan Rakitic | Joan Jordan | Ivan Rakitic |
Manchester City’s penalty order should be as follows:
- Erling Haaland
- İlkay Gündoğan
- Riyad Mahrez; and
- Kevin De Bruyne
In that order.
For Borussia Dortmund, things are a little bit unclear as their primary penalty taker (i.e. Marco Reus) might still be injured.
He missed the FIFA World Cup due to an ankle ligament injury, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll be back in time for the knockout stages.
Group H
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benfica | João Mário | Fredrik Aursnes | Alejandro Grimaldo | João Mário | Rafa Silva | Alejandro Grimaldo | João Mário | Rafa Silva |
| Juventus | Dušan Vlahović | Leonardo Bonucci | Ángel Di María | Filip Kostić | Federico Chiesa | Ángel Di María | Filip Kostić | Federico Chiesa |
| Maccabi Haifa | Dolev Haziza | - | - | - | ||||
| Paris Saint Germain | Neymar | Kylian Mbappe | Lionel Messi | Neymar | Achraf Hakimi | Neymar | Lionel Messi | Marco Verratti |
Finally, João Mário and one of Neymar or Kylian Mbappé should take penalties for Benfica and Paris Saint Germain respectively.
Lionel Messi should be on free kick duty for the Parisian giants.
Closing thoughts
That’s a wrap!
This article should have given you a lot of insight into the Champions League’s set piece specialists.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the short read.
For similar content, have a look through our blog as we’ve got posts like:
- The complete list of UEFA Champions League winners; and
- UEFA Champions League Golden Boot award winners
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