Something unusual is happening from the penalty spot in the Bundesliga. After the opening three rounds of the season and 27 matches played, only three penalties have been awarded in Germany’s top flight, and remarkably, none of them have resulted in a goal. Thijs Dallinga, Nadiem Amiri and Max Moerstedt have all taken a penalty kick this season, but Karl Hein, Noah Atubolu and Marvin Schwäbe respectively saved their attempts.

The perfect record of Bundesliga goalkeepers becomes even more unusual when looking at other set pieces. Two goals have already been scored directly from free kicks this season, while penalties have produced none. After three rounds, Bundesliga teams have therefore scored more goals directly from free kicks than from what is normally considered one of the best goalscoring opportunities in football.

Three penalties, three saves

The most remarkable part of the Bundesliga’s opening three rounds is not simply how few penalties have been awarded, but what happened when players finally stepped up to the spot. All three penalties taken this season have been saved, leaving the Bundesliga with a 0% conversion rate after 27 matches. Dallinga was denied by Hein, Atubolu stopped Amiri, while Schwäbe completed the perfect start for Bundesliga goalkeepers by saving Moerstedt’s attempt.

That represents a dramatic contrast to last season, when Bundesliga players converted 86 of 109 penalties for a 78.9% success rate. Penalties were also considerably more frequent, with one awarded every 2.8 matches during the 2025/26 campaign. This season, only three have been given across the opening 27 fixtures, meaning the current rate has dropped to one penalty every nine matches.

Three rounds remain a small sample and there is plenty of time for both numbers to move closer to their historical levels. Still, the combination makes the beginning of the season particularly interesting. Bundesliga teams are not only getting significantly fewer opportunities from the spot so far, but when those opportunities have arrived, goalkeepers have won every battle.

A unique record among Europe’s top five leagues

No other league among Europe’s top five has experienced the same problems from the penalty spot. Ligue 1 has converted all 12 penalties awarded this season, while LaLiga players have scored 14 of 17 and the Premier League has recorded six goals from eight attempts. Serie A has seen even fewer penalties than the Bundesliga, with only two awarded, but one of those two was converted.

The comparison makes Germany’s perfect goalkeeper record stand out. While the number of penalties awarded varies significantly between the competitions, the Bundesliga remains the only one of the five without a single penalty goal. Three attempts and three saves means Bundesliga goalkeepers have a 100% save rate from penalties at this stage of the season.

It is an extraordinary turnaround from 2025/26, when the Bundesliga had the second highest penalty conversion rate among the five leagues at 78.9%. Ligue 1 has started the new season at the opposite extreme, with all 12 penalties converted, while Germany sits at zero. Whether that difference survives another few rounds is another question, but the opening sequence is already statistically remarkable.

Free kicks 2, penalties 0

Perhaps the best way to illustrate just how unusual the start has been is to compare penalties with direct free kicks. Felix Keidel and Fabian Rieder have already scored directly from free kicks in the Bundesliga this season, meaning the league has produced two direct free kick goals while still waiting for its first successful penalty kick. Keidel has converted his only direct free kick attempt, while Rieder has scored from one of his two attempts.

At the same time, penalty kicks themselves have become much less frequent in the opening weeks. Last season, a penalty was awarded once every 2.8 Bundesliga matches, while this season the rate currently stands at just one every nine matches. It is still too early to determine whether that trend will continue, but combined with three saves from three penalty kicks, it has created one of the most unusual statistical stories of the Bundesliga season so far.