Barca's road woes continue at surging Getafe

Soccer Betting Lines

11/10/2007 - Getafe, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manuel Del Moral and Juan Angel Albin scored as Getafe stunned Barcelona 2-0 on Saturday to win for the fourth time in its last five matches and add to Barca's road woes.

Getafe (4-6-2) was winless through seven matches in La Liga - losing five of those - but has found its form to climb from the bottom of the table to 11th. Getafe has been impressive in its four wins, posting 2-0 victories in each.

Barcelona (7-2-3) lost for the second time in six road matches and has just one win away from the Nou Camp this season.

Barcelona displayed its usual exciting style early with Leo Messi, Hernandez Xavi and Thierry Henry nearly combining to score in the 14th minute.

Ikechukwu Uche answered with a chance in the box for Getafe in the 19th minute but Barca goalie Victor Valdes got low to make a save.

Henry just missed another chance for Barca in the 24th after receiving a pass from Andres Iniesta, but despite splitting two defenders, Henry was denied by Getafe goalie Roberto Abbondanzieri.

Getafe then struck for the early edge when Del Moral found space in the box off a free kick and slotted a side-footed shot into the left side of the net.

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol gave away the free kick on the left, which was sent across the field to Daniel Diaz at the top of the box. Diaz flicked the ball into the box with a header, and Del Moral didn't waste the chance.

Barcelona suffered a scare in the 40th minute when Ronaldinho was fouled hard and taken off on a stretcher. Although he returned, he was taken off early in the second half.

Getafe nearly pushed its edge to two goals before half when Uche was fed by a perfect back heel but had his shot deflect off of Valdes' face for a corner.

With Ronaldinho already out, Barca's situation only got worse when substitute Gianluca Zambrotta was sent off late in the match.

Albin then put the match away in the 90th minute, taking a pass from Uche to get free on the left side of the box and beat Valdes to the far post.

In Saturday's other La Liga match, David Villa scored twice as Valencia beat Real Murcia, 3-0.

Villa scored his first goal in the 26th minute to give Valencia a 2-0 lead. He ran onto a pass from David Albelda on the left side, took the ball deep in the box and fooled Real Murcia goalie Antonio Notario by twisting to take the shot with his right foot.

Villa's second goal came six minutes into the second half when he made a nice sliding effort to reach a pass and poke the ball into the left side.

Valencia pulled equal in points with Barcelona and Villarreal, but sits fourth on goal differential.

Wwwcbot Soccer Betting News

<< No. 24 Kentucky tops Vanderbilt in wild affair
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Woodson threw for 222 yards and a touchdown, and Rafael Little ran for 70 yards and a score, as 24th-ranked Kentucky downed Vanderbilt, 27-20, in Southeastern Conference action. Derrick Lock

<< Alfredsson's late tallies lift Sens over Habs
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Alfredsson scored two goals in the third period to lead the Ottawa Senators past the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, at Scotiabank Place. Chris Neil also scored while Martin Gerber turned aside 28 s

<< Ten-man Le Mans rallies to edge St. Etienne
Le Mans, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tulio De Melo converted his second penalty in the 70th minute as Le Mans rallied to defeat St. Etienne, 3-2, on Saturday despite playing a man down for more than 60 minutes. The match was tied at 1 midw

<< Power on pole in Mexico City
Mexico City, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power upset four-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais to win the pole for Sunday's Gran Premio Tecate on the 2.48-mile, 15-turn Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course with a qualify

<< Creamer cruising at Tournament of Champions
Semmes, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even when things didn't go Paula Creamer's way on Saturday, it ended up fine. For example, she missed the green at the par-four 18th hole at the Crossings Course at Magnolia Grove Golf Course, but chipped in for

Williams' four TD passes leads Illini to shocker over Buckeyes >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juice Williams threw a career-high four touchdown passes to four different receivers, as Illinois stunned top-ranked Ohio State, 28-21, at Ohio Stadium. Williams threw for 140 yards on 12-of-22 passin

Mercer shocks No. 18 USC >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Florence scored a team-high 30 points and Shaddean Aaron added 13 as Mercer upset 18th-ranked USC, 96-81, in the season-opening game for both teams at the Galen Center. Florence was 11-of-23 sho

Young and Pitt down North Carolina A&T >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sam Young scored 24 points and ripped down 11 rebounds as 22nd-ranked Pittsburgh cruised past North Carolina A&T, 88-61, at the Hispanic College Fund Classic. Mike Cook had 13 points and five assists

Busch two for two with one race to go >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trying to win three races on the same weekend, Kyle Busch won round two capturing Saturday afternoon's Arizona.Travel 200 Busch Series race at the Phoenix International Raceway. On Friday, he won the Craftsm

No. 9 Arizona State survives against UCLA >>
Pasadena, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Barrett intercepted Osaar Rasshan's pass in the end zone with 4:30 remaining, and No. 9 Arizona State escaped with a 24-20 win over UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Rudy Carpenter completed 16-of-31 passes for

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

MySportsbook.com is the Internet’s largest online sportsbook site serving customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1997, MySportsbook.com was the first sports book to introduce reduced margin wagering, using a -105 pricing model that gives bettors up to 50% better value on wagers than traditional bookmakers. With low minimum bet requirements and the highest maximum limits on the Web, MySportsbook.com has earned an industry leading reputation for providing consistent value to the player, professional customer service and the quickest payouts online. Fully licensed and regulated in Antigua and the UK, the company offers a secure environment for sports betting, horse racing and online casino games.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs.