Basel leaves it late to shock Bayern

Soccer Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Basel continued its impressive Champions League campaign on Wednesday, leaving it late to shock Bayern Munich with a 1-0 victory at St. Jakob-Park.

In a back-and-forth match where both sides traded scoring opportunities, Basel landed the only actual blow as Valentin Stocker scored in the 86th minute.

Stocker collected a through ball on the left side of the box before calmly slipping a shot through the legs of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, denying the visitors the chance to head back to Munich level on aggregate.

The late goal proved to be the climax in a match not short on entertainment value.

Franck Ribery had two early chances to put Bayern in front but he was foiled on both occasions by Yann Sommer.

The French attacker found himself inside the six-yard box in the third minute with only Sommer to beat, but the Swiss 'keeper stretched out his hand to deny Bayern the opening goal.

Ribery broke through again in the 12th minute after latching on to a through ball, but Sommer deflected the shot out of play to keep Bayern at bay.

Basel responded with several close scoring opportunities.

Marco Streller's effort in the 16th minute forced a brilliant save from Neuer who pushed the shot off the post. The ball trickled along the goal line before being cleared to safety by the Bayern defense.

Alexander Frei came inches away from opening the scoring in the 19th minute when he lashed a shot on goal. His attempt beat Neuer but rattled the crossbar and bounced back into play.

David Alaba smashed a shot from distance in the 29th minute that looked destined for the roof of the net, but Sommer palmed the ball away to once again deny Bayern.

Philipp Lahm was the first player to create a decent scoring chance in the second half as the Germany international cut inside in the 68th minute and unleashed shot from outside the box, but Sommer came up big again to parry the attempt away.

The visitors were left to rue their misses as Stocker's late goal ensured a one-goal Basel advantage for the second leg, slated for March 13 at the Allianz Arena.

Basel will advance with a win, draw, or any loss by a one-goal deficit in which the Swiss side scores.

Marseille 1, Inter Milan 0

Marseille, France - Andre Ayew scored his fourth goal of the Champions League season in dramatic fashion, as his header in the dying minutes lifted Marseille to a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan at the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday.

Inter Milan looked destined to take a scoreless draw back to the San Siro for the return leg, but Ayew nodded a corner kick past Julio Cesar deep into second-half stoppage time to help Marseille steal the win.

The French club will head to Italy for the replay on March 13, leading the Italian giants 1-0 on aggregate.

Mtsportsbook Soccer Betting News

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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