According to a report in L’Equipe, Juventus are the team most penalised for handballs this season as well as being the team who has had the least penalties awarded in favour for handballs.
The French newspaper followed up on coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s comments after Juve’s 2-2 draw against Atalanta that saw two penalties awarded for handballs, following the new Serie A protocol.
Speaking after the game, Gasperini said players would need to ‘cut their arms off’ with the new rules, while acknowledging the penalty decisions were correct, based on the new rules.
L’Equipe report that according to Opta, the figures prove Gasperini is right: Of the 313 matches already played in Serie A, 157 penalties were whistled for, including 50 on fouls in the area, or just under 32%. This is more than in Spain (30%), France (25.8%), Germany (24.7%) and England (18.5%).
But the data also shows that the team to have ‘suffered’ the most from these calls is the Bianconeri: Lazio have had the least given against them, with 5 penalties out of 6 conceded for handballs. Juventus have had the most awarded, with 7 out of 10 awarded for handballs in the area (the 2nd most sanctioned team, overall).
Conversely, the Bianconeri obtained “only” 3 penalties for this type of fault (including two on Saturday), far behind Roma with 7.
