Atletico Madrid pulls level with Barcelona

Soccer Betting Lines

05/11/2008 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Diego Forlan scored as Atletico Madrid edged Deportivo, 1-0, to pull even in points with third-place Barcelona, which blew a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss to Mallorca on Sunday in the Spanish La Liga.

Atletico and Barcelona both have 64 points with one match to play. Sevilla is just three points back after a 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday. The scenario means Barcelona could - although it's very unlikely - drop all the way down to fifth if it loses next week.

Third and fourth place qualify for the Champions League, and fifth place drops to the UEFA Cup. Atletico and Barcelona need a point or for Sevilla not to win next week to secure Champions League spots. None of the three clubs can finish worse than fifth.

Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o scored to give Barcelona a two-goal advantage, but Borja Valero, Pierre Webo and Daniel Guiza scored in the final 23 minutes - the last in the 90th minute.

Guiza's goal was his 26th of the season, which leads the league. Luis Fabiano scored his 24th goal of the season to lead Sevilla to its win over Real Betis.

Real Madrid settled for a 2-2 draw with Real Zaragoza, which dropped into the last relegation spot with one game to play.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robinho had Real Madrid's goals. Sergio scored in the 86th to help Zaragoza earn one point. Zaragoza is one point behind Recreativo and Osasuna and two behind Real Valladolid entering the final week.

Osasuna edged Real Murcia 2-1 and Recreativo defeated Almeria 2-0 to move past Zaragoza. Real Valladolid tied Getafe 0-0.

Valencia beat Levante 5-1 to secure its survival, Villarreal defeated Espanyol 2-0 and Atletico Bilbao tied Racing 0-0 in the league's other games Sunday.

Racing is still sixth and holds the final UEFA cup berth, but Mallorca is just one point behind.

Next week, Valencia hosts Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid hosts Levante, Mallorca hosts Real Zaragoza, Real Murcia hosts Barcelona, Getafe hosts Real Betis, Racing hosts Osasuna, Recreativo hosts Real Valladolid, Sevilla hosts Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol hosts Almeria and Deportivo hosts Villarreal.

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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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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.