There are certain statistics in soccer that are hard to overlook, and Ayoub El Kaabi has set one of the strangest while playing for Olympiacos.
The Moroccan forward has now missed four penalty kicks in domestic league matches with the “Red-and-Whites.” What’s remarkable, however, is that none of them cost the Piraeus-based team any points or a spot in the next round.
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Olympiacos: El Kaabi Returns to Renti
Four missed penalties, four wins for Olympiacos!
The most recent instance occurred against Atromitos. El Kaabi failed to score from the penalty spot in a game that was anything but easy for the Piraeus side. The breakthrough finally came in the 82nd minute, when David Carmo found the back of the net and secured the victory for Olympiacos.
And this isn’t an isolated incident. In February 2025, in Serres, El Kaabi saw the opposing goalkeeper block his shot in the 20th minute. He immediately grabbed the “rebound” and opened the scoring, with Olympiacos ultimately cruising to a comfortable 4-0 victory and the Moroccan finding the back of the net again shortly thereafter.
A few days earlier, he had missed yet another penalty kick, this time in the big Cup match against Panathinaikos at “G. Karaiskakis” Stadium. El Kaabi was unable to beat Yuri Lodigin from the penalty spot in stoppage time, but two minutes later, Christos Mouzakitis scored the goal that secured the victory for the “Red-and-Whites.”
The list also includes a match from the 2023–24 season. The Moroccan had already opened the scoring before taking yet another penalty kick, only to see it saved by Julián Cuesta. Even then, however, his miss did not affect the outcome, as Olympiacos went on to win 3-0.
The paradox of El Kaabi’s missed penalty kicks thus takes on particular interest. The Moroccan has been one of Olympiacos’ most reliable scorers in recent years, but in the four instances where he missed from the penalty spot in domestic competitions, his team has managed to find a way to secure the victory every time.
In fact, there’s yet another positive statistic for Olympiacos. For the fifth consecutive season, the Piraeus side opened the league with a win and without conceding a goal. This followed four season openers with 2-0 victories, while the last time they failed to win in the opening match was a 0-0 draw with Atromitos at “G. Karaiskakis” Stadium during the 2021/22 season.
The last league opener in which Olympiacos conceded a goal was in the 2017/18 season, when they defeated AEL 4-1 on the road.
*photo source: KYPE
