Carlo Ancelotti has a big decision to make when it comes to who will take Real Madrid’s penalties this season. With Luka Modric seeing less game time, there are three strong candidates to step up as the main penalty taker. Kylian Mbappé is the most experienced, but Vinícius Jr. and Jude Bellingham have been more efficient with their fewer attempts.

Before the LaLiga EA Sports opener at Son Moix, where Real Madrid felt they should’ve had two penalties for a push on Mbappé and a shirt pull on Éder Militao during a corner, Ancelotti avoided revealing his preferred penalty taker in a press conference.

Mbappé's arrival gives Real Madrid a specialist, and with the French forward aiming for 50 goals this season, he seems like the obvious choice. However, Vinícius and Bellingham have shown more reliability.

Throughout his career, Mbappé has taken 51 penalties with an 82.35% success rate, scoring 42 and missing nine. Most of his misses have come at the club level, where he’s converted 32 out of 40 attempts. With France, he’s been even better, scoring 10 out of 11, according to BeSoccer data for EFE.

When compared to Vinícius, the Brazilian has a perfect record, although he’s only taken four penalties in his career—all in high-pressure situations. He’s scored all of them: three for Real Madrid (twice against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup and LaLiga, and once against Bayern in the Champions League semifinals) and one for Brazil.

Bellingham, on the other hand, has only taken three penalties, all at the club level—two with Borussia Dortmund and one with Real Madrid against Almería—and he’s scored all three.

Rodrygo Goes, another option, has been less consistent, which might lower his chances this season. He’s taken five penalties (including one with the reserve team), scoring three and missing two, all with Real Madrid. He hasn’t taken any with Brazil yet.

So far this season, with matches against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup and Mallorca in LaLiga, there haven’t been any penalties to settle the debate. The next opportunity might come this Sunday when Real Madrid faces Real Valladolid in their Santiago Bernabéu opener.