Tag: "Argentine"

Champions League Results: Messi destroys Arsenal with one of the greatest performances

Magical display from Barca’s Argentine maestro ends Wenger’s European dream at the Nou Camp and Mourinho’s men win in Moscow. “Messi got behind Arsenal’s back four and lifted his shot past Almunia to seal his fourth hat-trick of 2010.” Lionel Messi gave one of the finest individual performances in European football history as his first-half hat-trick condemned Arsenal to the Champions League exit. The Gunners took the lead at the Nou Camp in the 18th minute through Nicklas Bendtner . The Austrian striker sprawled over as his shot was palmed away by Victor Valdes but he managed to pick himself up in time to hook the rebound into the Barcelona net. The Catalan side looked disgusted with themselves at going behind in front of their fans and they responded only three minutes later when Messi fired the ball into the top corner of Manuel Almunia’s goal. The diminutive Argentine gave his side the lead after 37 minutes when he picked up possession in Arsenal’s area, ghosted past his marker and slotted the ball home. Minutes later Messi got behind Arsenal’s back four and lifted his shot past Almunia to seal his fourth hat-trick of 2010.

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Apr 07, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

La Liga Preview: Los Blancos Racing towards El Clasico

Tobias Gourlay chooses two from the top and one from the bottom for the 30th round of the Spanish league season. Recommended Bets: Back Real Madrid -1.5 at 2.0 v Racing Santander; back Draw/Barcelona at 4.8 v Athletic Bilbao; back Almeria at 2.52 to beat Real Mallorca Although one of Spain’s Big Two has been much busier than the other this week and one stays at home while the other goes away, there’s no reason to suppose both won’t pick up three points and maintain their monstrous 21-point lead over third-placed Valencia going into next weekend’s El Clasico showdown in Madrid. A month ago, Real Madrid would not have envisaged many weeks off towards the end of a European season that culminates in a Champions League final at the Santiago Bernabeu, but their loss to Lyon sees them well-rested ahead of Sunday’s trip to Racing Santander . They probably didn’t even need to be rested, for Racing are embarrassed owners of La Liga’s worst home record this season (W2-D5-L7) and rarely trouble their most illustrious opponents, losing this fixture in four of the last five seasons. Real, meanwhile, are in excellent form and Manuel Pellegrini recently became only the third manager in La Liga’s history to win 11 consecutive matches, but still fears for his job at the end of the season. Los Blancos have a few injuries to squad members at the moment – Guti, for example, has just picked up his seventh knock of the season – but Kaka is the only first-teamer whose availability this weekend is in doubt. Their winning streak away from home is five and in each of those games they have beaten a -1.5-goal handicap .

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Apr 01, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

World Cup Betting: Take a bow son – the stars set for South Africa swansongs

They may not depart with the fireworks and fisticuffs but some top players will be heading for the exit after this summer’s World Cup. Ben Lyttleton considers some of the best. “Thierry Henry may stand down from his controversial reign as France captain after the World Cup, given that he looks set to move to New York Red Bulls next season.” GOING OUT ON A HIGH

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Mar 30, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Champions League Quarter-Finals: Bad news, Arsenal – Zlatan’s found his form again

Ibrahimovic is back on the scoring trail for Barcelona and that’s ominous for Arsenal, says Ben Lyttleton “Much of the focus this week will be on how Arsenal stops Messi, but the danger is that they double up on the Argentine and allow crosses for Zlatan to take advantage.” Teams in Champions League action historically drop points on the weekend before big European games, often because they rest their most important players, and so it proved in the cases of Bayern Munich , Arsenal and Internazionale this week. Bordeaux also lost their French League Cup final to Marseille, after coach Laurent Blanc prioritised the European tie against Lyon

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Mar 29, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Spanish Football Betting: Messi must win World Cup to be a true great

Lionel Messi is a fine football – one of the finest, you might say – but his Barca team-mates aren’t too shabby either and, before we can put him alongside the likes of Pele and a certain other Argentinian dribbling wizard, he must win major titles on the international stage, says Feizal Rahman. “In light of Barcelona’s visit to Arsenal – the Catalans are 1.43 to qualify, 3.0 to win Champions League – it should be noted that Messi has just one goal and one assist in 11 encounters with English sides… “ In completing his mesmerizing hat-trick against Real Zaragoza last Sunday – and scoring his eighth goal in three games – Barcelona’s Lionel Messi appeared to announce himself as the second coming. His performance was like watching the Harry Enfield sketch where a player glues the ball to his feet and runs down the field, running rings around hapless defenders before crossing the goal line

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Mar 29, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Sony Ericsson Open Daily Tips: Opposing Karlovic serves up Friday value

After a bad couple of days in Miami, Sean Calvert bids to bounce back by opposing one serving machine and backing another… “I wouldn’t want to be on Karlovic at 1.22 . His opponent is probably the best 5.5 shot you’ll find today.” It was another strange day at the Crandon Park Tennis Centre on Thursday as both of my bets went down in unfortunate circumstances. First, Victor Hanescu blew a 4-1 first set tie-break lead before winning the second and going on to lose the decider, then Leonardo Mayer was all over Mardy Fish , but a shocking eight double faults cost him the match. One of the first matches on court today features a 1.22 favourite, who is yet to win a main draw match in the Sony Ericsson Open in six years. Ivo Karlovic hates it in Key Biscayne – the courts are too slow and the weather too humid for him, as his results have shown

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Mar 26, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Sony Ericsson Open Daily Tips: Becker’s miserable run set to continue?

Sean Calvert provides a pair of exciting bets on the day one of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. “Becker is a truly miserable run of form at the moment and in truth he has been for a while, so I’m not quite sure why the layers have him as favourite against Simon Greul.” Sunday’s recommended advice of backing over 23.5 games in the Indian Wells final between Andy Roddick and Ivan Ljubicic came to fruition and hopefully you also heeded my warning about backing Roddick at 1.46 outright. The next Masters event is quickly upon us, as we head to Miami for the Sony Ericsson Open , played as ever on outdoor hard courts. Today’s first round match-ups have provided a selection of handy bets and one of the best chances of value is in the all-German battle between Benjamin Becker and Simon Greul

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Mar 24, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Football Betting: Argentina’s Big Two are in big trouble

Once upon a time River Plate and Boca Juniors were perennial winners of the Argentinean League and the Copa Libertadores but financial problems, management issues, in-fighting amongst players and even a case of alcoholism are destroying these two great clubs. The previous board left Passarella with a headache in the squad, after luring Mathias Almeyda back to football aged 36 to join Marcello Gallardo, 34, and Ariel Ortega, 36, in an ageing squad the local press complain is suffering from “Milan syndrome”. The Buenos Aires derby between Boca Juniors and River Plate is the biggest game in Argentine football and while the fixture normally goes some way to determining who will win the title or at least qualify for the Copa Libertadores , Sunday night’s encounter was going to do no such thing. River are stuck in mid-table with an ageing squad, a new president and an eccentric recruitment policy while Boca, who hosted the match, are in even worse shape: they went into the game second-from-bottom, with one win in nine games and the worst defence in the league. So it would have to take an extraordinary set of circumstances for both sets of players and fans to leave La Bombonera without the disappointment that has followed them for most of the campaign: and yet that’s how it turned out, after referee Hector Baldassi abandoned the game after just nine minutes due to torrential rain

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Mar 22, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Indian Wells Daily Tips: Is Nadal back to his best?

His shorts may leave a little to be desired but, after enduring a torrid 12 months, the former-world number one is rediscovering his best form and should have more than enough to overcome Thomas Berdych today. Sean Calvert selects the best bets

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Mar 18, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Indian Wells Daily Tips: Djokovic faces tough match against Kohlschreiber

Novak Djokovic has developed an unnerving habit of dropping sets against less than formidable opponents. Today he will need to be at his best when he meets a mercurial German in the third round. Sean Calvert selects the best bets. “The mercurial German hammered Djokovic in straights in last year’s French Open, which shows how good he can be on his day and he has more than enough to push the Serb close here.” It was a very profitable Sunday night for readers of this column, as three out of my four suggested bets came in at Indian Wells

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Mar 15, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post
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