As already reported, the winner of the return match of the 1st qualifying round of the Champions League between the Maltese “Hamrun Spartans” and the Lithuanian “Zalgiris” was determined by a penalty shootout, which ended with a score of 11:10 in favor of the Maltese (they will now play against Kyiv’s “Dynamo”).
A total of 28 penalties were taken in this shootout, setting a new record for the Champions League / Cup of Champions qualification in the history of the tournament. The previous record was held by Slovenia’s “Olympia” and Latvia’s “Skonto”, who had a penalty shootout consisting of 24 spot kicks in the 1993/94 season.
However, “Hamrun Spartans” and “Zalgiris” fell short of the European cup record: in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League for the 2024/25 season, Amsterdam’s “Ajax” and Greece’s “Panathinaikos” combined for 34 penalties.
Moreover, the world record for the length of a penalty shootout is even more impressive. In May 2024, the fate of the playoff semifinal match for promotion to the second league of Israel between the teams “Dimona” and “Shimshon” was decided by a penalty shootout, where the opponents combined for a total of 56 (!) spot kicks.
WATCH the VIDEO of the record-long penalty shootout on our Telegram channel.