Barcelona has chance to bury Real Madrid

Soccer Betting Lines

12/12/2008 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona's 20-match unbeaten streak ended on Wednesday - the club's "B Team" was responsible for the 3-2 Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk - but the Camp Nou club will be back at full strength Saturday with a shot to bury rival Real Madrid.

Barca has been the most dominant team in the world for months, crushing almost every opponent to cruise to a first-place finish in its group in the Champions League and open a six-point lead in La Liga.

Barcelona already had first place in the group secured and used reserves in the loss to Shakhtar Donetsk. But its last league win, 4-0 over Valencia, was just the latest in a string of dominating results.

Real Madrid has struggled, slipping nine points back - it could fall 12 behind with a loss this weekend - and fired Bernd Schuster earlier this week after he said the club couldn't win at Barcelona this week.

Juande Ramos replaced Schuster and led Real to an easy victory in the Champions League on Wednesday over Zenit St. Petersburg, 3-0.

Last season, Real Madrid hammered Barca 4-1 late in the season to essentially seal its second straight league title. With Barcelona in top form right now, it could be payback time.

"We have the chance, we are on good form. We want the fans to see a good game and to show them that 4-1 loss is now behind us," Barca's Rafa Marquez said. "But we have to stay humble and perhaps that's how we can get a positive result out of this.

"There is no need to watch that game again, but it's something we have on our minds."

Payback isn't the only thing on Marquez's mind, though. The most important part is to just get the win, and put Real so far behind it will struggle to catch up to the leaders.

"The team is very aware of how important it is to win at all costs, whether it's 1-0 or by a bigger score, we're just worried about getting the three points," Marquez said. "We are focused on our job.

"A win would give us an important lead over Madrid and a good cushion to work with."

Real Madrid lost its last league match under Schuster, falling 4-3 to Sevilla. With four losses through 14 weeks, the defending champions are just three away from their total losses from last season.

Madrid's Arjen Robben admitted the team is still getting used to Ramos, but the first glance was promising.

"We still don't know the coach too well. We first have to play in Barcelona; we'll start knowing each other better after the weekend," said Robben, who will miss this weekend's clash.

Ramos knows Real wants to return to top form as soon as possible, but it could take a little while for everything to come together.

"I noticed my men were anxious to completely change the situation they are in. They worked hard and showed me they want to change as fast possible. They will do whatever it takes," Ramos said.

Even Marquez knows the importance of this weekend's match, and realizes a loss could be the spark to turn Real's season around.

"Playing the clasico is more motivating than anything," Marquez said, "and the change of manager will be a breath of fresh air."

"We will fight hard to take the three points at stake," Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain said.

"We know we are in better form, but these games are unpredictable; you never know what's going to happen," Barcelona's Xavi said.

Also Saturday, third-place Valencia will try to rebound from its loss to Barca when it hosts Espanyol.

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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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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