SHOOTOUT RECORD !
Champions League’s longest shootout in Malta
Longest ever penalty shootout in the European Cup/Champions League history happened in the competition’s first qualifying round on 15 July.
Lithuania’s Žalgiris had entered the 2nd leg vs Malta’s Hamrun Spartans in a strong position after winning 2-0 at home. But in Malta the scoreline was reversed, 2-0 in favor of Hamrun, setting the stage for a penalty shootout that turned into a dramatical marathon. No fewer than 28 penalties were taken before the Maltese side finally sealed the victory (11-10).
Never before since the competition’s inception in 1955, a penalty shootout required so many attempts. The previous record was in the qualifying for the 1993-94 season when Olimpija Ljubljana and Skonto Riga needed 24 penalties to determine the winner (11-10 for Skonto).
On the number of successful shots (21), these two series are now the Champions League’s joint record holders.
In the European club competitions overall, the longest ever shootout was played a year ago, in the 2024-25 Europa League’s qualification: 34 shots between Ajax and Panathinaikos.
| LONGEST | SHOOTOUTS | |||||||
| EUROPEAN | CLUB | CO | MPETITIO | NS | ||||
| Home Team | Away Team | SC | PC | PT | Date | Comp. | Round | |
| 1 | Ajax | Panathinaikos | 13-12 | 25 | 34 | 15/08/2024 | EL | 3QR |
| 2 | Glentoran | Gżira United | 13-14 | 27 | 28 | 20/07/2023 | CO | 1QR |
| 3 | Wisła Kraków | Spartak Trnava | 12-11 | 23 | 28 | 15/08/2024 | CO | 3QR |
| 4 | Hamrun Spartans | Žalgiris Vilnius | 11-10 | 21 | 28 | 15/07/2025 | CL | 1QR |
| 5 | Shamrock Rovers | Ilves | 12-11 | 23 | 26 | 27/08/2020 | EL | 1QR |
| 6 | Olimpija Ljubljana | Skonto | 10-11 | 21 | 24 | 01/09/1993 | CL | 1QR |
| 7 | Drogheda United | Start | 10-11 | 21 | 24 | 24/08/2006 | EL | 2QR |
| 8 | Rio Ave | Milan | 8-9 | 17 | 24 | 01/10/2020 | EL | 4QR |
| 9 | Lech Poznań | Inter Baku | 9-8 | 17 | 22 | 21/07/2010 | CL | 2QR |
| 10 | Villarreal | Manchester United | 11-10 | 21 | 22 | 26/05/2021 | EL | F |
| 11 | Bayern Munich | PAOK | 9-8 | 17 | 20 | 02/11/1983 | EL | R32 |
| 12 | Slovan Liberec | Dinamo București | 8-9 | 17 | 20 | 27/08/2009 | EL | 4QR |
CL = Champions League (including qualifiers),
EL = Europa League (including UEFA Cup era),
CO = Conference League.