Borussia Dortmund Makes History with Three Penalties in a Single Match

A Rare Occurrence in Bundesliga

In an unprecedented event, Borussia Dortmund has recorded three penalties in one match for the first time in their 1,995-game history in the Bundesliga. This unusual feat was witnessed by 81,365 fans at the sold-out Signal Iduna Park yesterday.

Coach’s Perspective

Interestingly, the team’s coach, Niko Kovac, admitted after securing a 3-2 win that he has stopped watching his own team’s penalties, suggesting this is a routine he has grown out of.

Noteworthy Goalkeeper

Eike Immel, a goalkeeper notorious for facing the most penalties in Bundesliga history, has ties to Borussia Dortmund. Over his career, Immel dealt with penalties 88 times. He was part of BVB from 1978 to 1986 and later played for VfB Stuttgart from 1986 to 1995, before finishing his career with two seasons at Manchester City.

Historical Context

Borussia Dortmund was also part of a match that set a record for the most penalties awarded—five in total—shortly after the inception of the Bundesliga. This event took place in the 1965/66 season when Dortmund triumphed 5-4 away against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In that match, BVB received two penalties while Gladbach was awarded three, yet they still ended up losing. Like Ramy Bensebaini’s performance yesterday, Lothar Emmerich converted both penalties for BVB back then and even scored an additional goal. On the other hand, Gladbach’s players Milder and Netzer contributed to the score, with Milder narrowly missing a crucial equalizer by hitting the crossbar with his second penalty attempt in a game that remains memorable.

Penalty Conversion Rates

It’s worth noting that four out of the five penalties in that historic match were successful, which aligns with the Bundesliga’s historical conversion rate of 77 percent for penalties.