Teams with the most red card for and against

Posted on 06 August, 2021 by Danny McLoughlin

We have analyzed the previous 11 seasons worth of data to understand the teams that have received the most red cards and the teams who have benefitted from their opposition receiving the most red cards.

The data encompasses 19,985 games across the top five leagues in Europe (Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga and English Premier League.)

Teams receiving most red cards (2008/09 - 2019/20)

This section looks at the teams who have had the most red cards over the last 11 seasons.

Top 5 leagues

 Ranking  Team   Competition  No. of red cards
 1  Genoa  Serie A  85
 2  Lazio  Serie A  85
 3  Milan  Serie A  82
 4  Valencia  La Liga  79
 5  Sevilla  La Liga  77
 6  Espanyol  La Liga  72
 7  Málaga  La Liga  70
 8  Getafe  La Liga  68
 9  Atalanta  Serie A  68
 10  Toulouse  Ligue 1  65

English Premier League

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Arsenal  43
 2  Manchester City  37
 3  Newcastle United  36
 4  Chelsea  35
 5  Sunderland  35
 6  Everton  32
 7  Manchester United  31
 8  Stoke City  29
 9  West Ham United  28
 10  Liverpool  27

La Liga

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Valencia  79
 2  Sevilla  77
 3  Espanyol  72
 4  Málaga  70
 5  Getafe  68
 6  Athletic Club  62
 7  Real Madrid  58
 8  Levante  54
 9  Osasuna  51
 10  Atlético Madrid  51

Serie A

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Genoa  85
 2  Lazio  85 
 3  Milan  82
 4  Atalanta  68
 5  Cagliari  64
 6  Sampdoria   64
 7  Roma  62
 8  Inter  61
 9  Bologna  58
 10  Fiorentina  56

Bundesliga

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Stuttgart  42
 2  Wolfsburg  40
 3  Schalke 04  39
 4  Bayer Leverkusen  36
 5  Eintracht Frankfurt  36
 6  Werder Bremen  35
 7  Hertha BSC  34
 8  Mainz 05  33
 9  Hoffenheim  33
 10  Hannover 96  31

Ligue 1

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Toulouse  65
 2  Nice  63
 3  Montpellier  62
 4  Lyon  54
 5  Marseille  52
 6  Saint-Étienne  52
 7  Lille  52
 8  Bordeaux  49
 9  Paris Saint-Germain  48
 10  Rennes  48

Teams benefitting from the opposition receiving most red cards (2008/09 - 2019/20)

This section looks at the teams that have seen an opposition player be sent off the most times over the last 11 seasons and have therefore benefitted from playing against 10 men or fewer.

Top 5 leagues

 Ranking  Team   Competition  No. of red cards
 1  Sevilla  La Liga  81
 2  Inter  Serie A  79
 3  Getafe  La Liga  79
 4  Nice  Ligue 1  77
 5  Lyon  Ligue 1  75
 6  Genoa  Serie A  74
 7  Napoli  Serie A  72
 8  Athletic Club  La Liga  72
 9  Barcelona  La Liga  69
 10  Valencia  La Liga  68

English Premier League

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Arsenal  46
 2  Chelsea  34
 3  West Ham United  34
 4  Tottenham  33
 5  Sunderland  32
 6  Manchester City  31
 7  Liverpool  29
 8  Manchester United  29
 9  Aston Villa  29
 10  Everton  28

La Liga

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Sevilla  81
 2  Getafe  79
 3  Athletic Club  72
 4  Barcelona  69
 5  Valencia  68
 6  Espanyol  66
 7  Real Madrid  57
 8  Betis  55
 9  Villarreal  54
 10  Atlético Madrid  53

Serie A

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Inter  79
 2  Genoa  74
 3  Napoli  72
 4  Juventus  68
 5  Sampdoria  67
 6  Lazio  67
 7  Roma  65
 8  Milan  65
 9  Fiorentina  63
 10  Bologna  63

Bundesliga

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Eintracht Frankfurt  45
 2  Dortmund  41
 3  Schalke 04  40
 4  Hoffenheim  40
 5  Bayern Munich  34
 6  Mainz 05  33
 7  Augsburg  32
 8  Köln  32
 9  Bayer Leverkusen   30
 10  Hertha BSC  28

Ligue 1

 Ranking  Team   No. of red cards
 1  Nice  77
 2  Lyon  75
 3  Lille  62
 4  Rennes  61
 5  Montpellier   61
 6  Bordeaux  60
 7  Saint-Étienne  60
 8  Toulouse  54
 9  Paris Saint-Germain  51
 10  Monaco  41
Author
Danny McLoughlin
Danny McLoughlin
Danny is a sports nut with a particular interest in football and running. He loves to watch sports as much as he loves to play. Danny was lead researcher on RunRepeat and The PFA’s report into Racial Bias in Football Commentary. His football and running research has been featured in The Guardian, BBC, New York Times and Washington Post.