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12/12/2008 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona's 20-match unbeaten streak ended on Wednesday - the club's "B Team" was responsible for the 3-2 Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk - but the Camp Nou club will be back at full strength Saturday with a shot to bury rival Real Madrid.
Barca has been the most dominant team in the world for months, crushing almost every opponent to cruise to a first-place finish in its group in the Champions League and open a six-point lead in La Liga.
Barcelona already had first place in the group secured and used reserves in the loss to Shakhtar Donetsk. But its last league win, 4-0 over Valencia, was just the latest in a string of dominating results.
Real Madrid has struggled, slipping nine points back - it could fall 12 behind with a loss this weekend - and fired Bernd Schuster earlier this week after he said the club couldn't win at Barcelona this week.
Juande Ramos replaced Schuster and led Real to an easy victory in the Champions League on Wednesday over Zenit St. Petersburg, 3-0.
Last season, Real Madrid hammered Barca 4-1 late in the season to essentially seal its second straight league title. With Barcelona in top form right now, it could be payback time.
"We have the chance, we are on good form. We want the fans to see a good game and to show them that 4-1 loss is now behind us," Barca's Rafa Marquez said. "But we have to stay humble and perhaps that's how we can get a positive result out of this.
"There is no need to watch that game again, but it's something we have on our minds."
Payback isn't the only thing on Marquez's mind, though. The most important part is to just get the win, and put Real so far behind it will struggle to catch up to the leaders.
"The team is very aware of how important it is to win at all costs, whether it's 1-0 or by a bigger score, we're just worried about getting the three points," Marquez said. "We are focused on our job.
"A win would give us an important lead over Madrid and a good cushion to work with."
Real Madrid lost its last league match under Schuster, falling 4-3 to Sevilla. With four losses through 14 weeks, the defending champions are just three away from their total losses from last season.
Madrid's Arjen Robben admitted the team is still getting used to Ramos, but the first glance was promising.
"We still don't know the coach too well. We first have to play in Barcelona; we'll start knowing each other better after the weekend," said Robben, who will miss this weekend's clash.
Ramos knows Real wants to return to top form as soon as possible, but it could take a little while for everything to come together.
"I noticed my men were anxious to completely change the situation they are in. They worked hard and showed me they want to change as fast possible. They will do whatever it takes," Ramos said.
Even Marquez knows the importance of this weekend's match, and realizes a loss could be the spark to turn Real's season around.
"Playing the clasico is more motivating than anything," Marquez said, "and the change of manager will be a breath of fresh air."
"We will fight hard to take the three points at stake," Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain said.
"We know we are in better form, but these games are unpredictable; you never know what's going to happen," Barcelona's Xavi said.
Also Saturday, third-place Valencia will try to rebound from its loss to Barca when it hosts Espanyol.
On Sunday, Sevilla hosts Villarreal in a clash of top-four clubs, Atletico Madrid hosts Real Betis, Valladolid hosts Deportivo, Recreativo hosts Osasuna, Getafe hosts Mallorca, Athletic Bilbao hosts Sporting Gijon, Almeria hosts Racing and Malaga hosts Numancia.
<< Bayern wants to put pressure on Hoffenheim
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich visits Stuttgart in a clash
of the last two Bundesliga champions Saturday, trying to extend its undefeated
streak to 16 matches and put pressure on current leader Hoffenheim.
Bayern edged
<< TFC brings De Rosario home in blockbuster trade with Houston
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC announced on Friday they have
acquired four-time Major League Soccer Cup winner and three-time MLS All-Star
Dwayne De Rosario from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for defender Julius
James a
<< Tigers sign Santiago
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms on a one-
year contract with infielder Ramon Santiago on Friday, avoiding arbitration.
Santiago batted .282 with four home runs and 18 RBI in 58 games last season
with D
<< Bills to be without CB Greer again
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Bills cornerback Jabari Greer will
not play Sunday against the New York Jets due to a nagging knee injury.
Greer had limited participation in practice on Wednesday and Thursday and
barely pra
Toronto FC >>
Acquired Dwayne De Rosario from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for defender Julius James and allocation money.
Price and Sluman lead Merrill Lynch Shootout >>
Naples, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Price and Jeff Sluman combined for an
eight-under 64 on Friday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the
$2.9 million Merrill Lynch Shootout.
Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry are in second pla
White Sox ink Betemit and Wise; finalize four-year deal with Viciedo >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox avoided arbitration on
Friday with infielder Wilson Betemit and outfielder DeWayne Wise, signing the
duo to one-year contracts.
The 27-year-old Betemit, who was acquired from the Yan
Crew and Sounders reach agreement on Schmid contract >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer announced on Friday that
the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders FC resolved a potential contractual
issue regarding former Crew coach Sigi Schmid.
Columbus acquired allocation money
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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