Barcelona's numerical superiority leads the scene: Real the most awarded penalties
Barcelona hold a significant lead over their counterparts Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in capitalising on numerical superiority.
The newspaper AS reported: "Amid the uproar over refereeing, the numbers speak for themselves, as data from Stats Perform shows that over the past decade, from the 2016-2017 season up to the stage the Spanish league has reached this season, Barcelona have played 862 minutes with a numerical advantage over their opponents."
That works out at 9.57 full matches, a figure miles clear of anything Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid can show. The Madrid side carry a negative balance, having played with 10 players for 91 minutes.
Atletico Madrid make the gap starker still. They have played 330 minutes a man down, the equivalent of 3.66 matches.
Dismissals on both sides drive these figures, those suffered by the teams' own players and those suffered by their opponents. Opposing sides lost 59 players to red cards. Barcelona lost 30, a difference of 29.
Real Madrid, by contrast, sit in the red. Dismissals ended the matches of 38 of their own players, against 39 from opposing teams.
No team has suffered more than Atletico Madrid. Referees sent off 45 of their players, compared with 30 from opposing teams.
More penalties awarded
Shift the lens to another statistic and Real Madrid come out on top. Stats Perform data put the Madrid side first for the balance of penalties awarded to them against those awarded against them.
Over the past ten years, Real Madrid have won 101 penalties and conceded 45, a difference of 56.
Barcelona are not far behind, with a positive balance of 43. They have been awarded 76 penalties and seen 33 given against them.
Atletico Madrid trail here on a positive balance of 7, with 57 penalties awarded and 50 against them.
The matches roll on and the numbers keep talking, but Barcelona lead where it counts: five Spanish league titles across these years. Real Madrid sit behind them on four, with Atletico Madrid claiming one.
With the first Clasico of the season looming and 29 matches left to play, Hansi Flick's side top the table on 27 points from a perfect run of wins.
Diego Simeone's side sit second, five points back on 22, while Jose Mourinho's team occupy third, six points adrift of Barcelona.
The teams committing the fewest fouls
Real Madrid rank among the cleanest sides in Europe's five major leagues when it comes to fouls.
Stats Perform data have the Madrid club averaging 8.56 fouls per match, one of the five lowest tallies in Europe.
Paris Saint-Germain head the list on 5.86 fouls per match, followed by Everton on 7.43, Inter Milan on 8.14 and Torino on 8.50.
Yet few European teams are punished as heavily for the fouls they do commit. Real Madrid pick up one yellow card for every 4.28 fouls.
Only Hull City rank above them, at 3.45 fouls per yellow card, with Venezia on 3.55 and Genoa on 3.78. Everton and Bournemouth sit level on 4.33 fouls per yellow card.