Real Madrid crashes out of Champions League

Soccer Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid failed to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the sixth successive season as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Lyon at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, leaving them on the short end of a 2-1 aggregate score.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the opening six minutes of the game to put Real in front, but a goal from Miralem Pjanic 15 minutes from time sends the French side through, while Real's hopes of hosting the final at the Bernabeu in May have been dashed.

The hosts couldn't have asked for a better start as they entered the return leg down 1-0 but scored inside of six minutes.

Guti lofted a ball over the top of the defense from his own half to Ronaldo, who got down the left wing and managed to squeeze a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from a tight angle to even things up on aggregate.

The visitors them came under attack over the rest of the first half with Gonzalo Higuain missing a number of good chances to extend the lead.

The Argentine should have scored in the 25th minute when he got behind the Lyon defense and rounded Lloris before smacking his shot off the post with an empty net staring him in the face.

Lloris then produced a good save on Higuain two minutes later to keep his team within a goal, but things began to turn around for Lyon in the second half.

The French club tightened things up in defense and began to find a few openings of their own as both Sidney Govou and Lisandro Lopez went close with long-range efforts.

However, with the aggregate score still level at 1-1, Pjanic found himself on the other end of a lay-off from Lopez and he smashed a half-volley past goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

The hosts now needed two goals in the final 15 minutes to advance, but instead it was Lyon that had the better chances with both Lopez and Cesar Delgado squandering scoring opportunities after getting past the Real defense.

Wednesday's other match saw Manchester United easily move on with a 4-0 win over AC Milan at Old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney scored a goal in each half while Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher also found the net in the final 30 minutes, handing United a 7-2 win on aggregate.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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