Barcelona beats Real to drop champs 12 points back

Soccer Betting Lines

12/13/2008 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samuel Eto'o made up for a missed penalty, scoring his 15th goal of the season in the 83rd minute and Lio Messi added the clinching goal in stoppage time as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 2-0 at rainy Camp Nou on Saturday in Spain's La Liga.

Barcelona extended its lead atop La Liga to eight points and pushed its lead on two-time defending champion Real Madrid to 12 points. Barca's 20-match unbeaten run in all competitions ended Wednesday in the Champions League, but its league win streak is now at 14.

Real Madrid remained fifth, but could drop two more spots Sunday when the rest of the league plays. New Real coach Juande Ramos won his debut with Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, but lost his league debut.

Real goalie Iker Casillas, who didn't start in the win over Zenit St Petersburg earlier this week, surely wasn't to blame for the loss.

Casillas denied Messi with a diving save in the sixth minute, then had a blast from Thierry Henry well covered at the bottom left corner a minute later and he let the ball whiz by the post. Casillas had another stop on Messi in the 16th.

Although not as busy, Barca goalie Vctor Valdes made a big save midway through the first half to deny Royston Drenthe on a breakaway.

Casillas regained the spotlight later in the match, diving to his left to save a penalty kick from Eto'o in the 70th. Barcelona youngster Sergi Busquets drew the penalty, but the veteran Eto'o fired a few yards inside the right post and Casillas dove to knock the hard shot wide.

Minutes later, Casillas made two more great saves. He first denied a long blast from Eto'o and then scurried to his feet to turn away Messi from close range - even though the Argentine superstar was ruled offside.

Valdes came up with another big stop in the 78th, saving a close-range effort from Palanca to keep the game scoreless.

Barcelona finally broke through in the 83rd off a corner kick from Xavi. Carles Puyol won the corner kick with a leaping header, which he directed to the feet of Eto'o. The Cameroon striker directed the ball over the line, a split-second before Palanca could clear it out.

Henry set Messi up for the clinching goal, springing him into the left side of the box. Messi chipped the ball over Casillas and just by Fabio Cannavaro, who slammed into the post trying to prevent the goal. Messi's goal was his 10th of the season.

Also Saturday, Raul Albiol and Vicente scored in the second half as Valencia rallied to beat 10-man Espanyol. Valencia moved into second, one point ahead of idle Villarreal.

On Sunday, Sevilla hosts Villarreal in a clash of top-four clubs, Atletico Madrid hosts Real Betis, Valladolid hosts Deportivo, Recreativo hosts Osasuna, Getafe hosts Mallorca, Athletic Bilbao hosts Sporting Gijon, Almeria hosts Racing and Malaga hosts Numancia.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

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