Special win: Inter eliminates Chelsea

Soccer Betting Lines

03/16/2010 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samuel Eto'o scored late in the second half and Inter Milan beat Chelsea 1-0 on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge to seal its 3-1 aggregate win and a spot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Inter coach Jose Mourinho, who is nicknamed "The Special One," coached Chelsea from 2004-07. Inter had lost in the Round of 16 the last three seasons, but is back in the final eight for the first time since 2005-06.

Chelsea last failed to reach the last eight that same year and had advanced to the semifinals each of the last three seasons. The Blues were second in 2008.

CSKA Moscow defeated Sevilla 2-1 at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to claim its series on aggregate, 3-2, to join Inter in the quarterfinals. Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Lyon, and Manchester United advanced last week.

Barcelona hosts Stuttgart on Wednesday with the series tied 1-1, and Bordeaux hosts Olympiacos with a 1-0 edge in their series to decide the last two teams.

Chelsea created the first scoring chance in the 11th minute when Frank Lampard dropped a pass off to Michael Ballack and the German drove a 30-yard shot just wide of the left post.

Inter had its only good scoring chance of the first in the 33rd after Chelsea captain John Terry misjudged a cross and it sailed over his head to Eto'o, who wasted an opener header with a shot straight into the ground.

Chelsea created its best chance two minutes before half when Didier Drogba set up Nicolas Anelka in the area. Anelka tried to tap the ball past Julio Cesar, but the Inter goalie got a piece of the ball and Thiago Motta cleared.

Although Chelsea needed a goal to win the series, Inter was far more dangerous through the first 25 minutes of the second half and could have easily put the series away on three occasions.

Wesley Sneijder found a streaking Goran Pandev in the 59th minute, but he took too long to test Chelsea goalkeeper Ryan Turnbull, and Yuri Zhirkov closed to deflect the shot wide.

Just six minutes later, Terry turned the ball over and Sneijder lofted a pass to Diego Milito, who fired wide of the right post with only Turnbull to beat.

Sneijder set up another chance in the 70th, but his perfect free kick to the back post to Motta was headed over from close range.

Eto'o finally rewarded Sneijder for his play-making in the 78th and sealed the series at the same time. Sneijder chipped a pass to Eto'o to spring him for a one-on-one chance with Turnbull - who started for injured Petr Cech - and he settled well and then poked a shot past Turnbull to the near post.

Drobga was sent off in the 86th for stomping on Motta after a collision in the area, and Chelsea did nothing over the closing minutes.

Mourinho celebrated the goal from Eto'o, but he left the bench and was down in the tunnel before the final whistle blew.

In Spain, Tomas Necid and Keisuke Honda scored as CSKA Moscow shocked Sevilla. Necid scored the opener in the 39th but Valencia's Diego Perotti answered just two minutes later to level the series at 2-2.

Honda sent CSKA through when his 35-yard free kick deflected off the hands of Sevilla goalie Andres Palop and into the upper right in the 55th. Honda had a lot on the shot but Palop was in good position and should have easily made the save.

Sevilla needed two goals in the final 35 minutes, but couldn't respond and was eliminated in the Round of 16 for the second time in the last three years.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.