Barcelona beats Real to drop champs 12 points back

Soccer Betting Lines

12/13/2008 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samuel Eto'o made up for a missed penalty, scoring his 15th goal of the season in the 83rd minute and Lio Messi added the clinching goal in stoppage time as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 2-0 at rainy Camp Nou on Saturday in Spain's La Liga.

Barcelona extended its lead atop La Liga to eight points and pushed its lead on two-time defending champion Real Madrid to 12 points. Barca's 20-match unbeaten run in all competitions ended Wednesday in the Champions League, but its league win streak is now at 14.

Real Madrid remained fifth, but could drop two more spots Sunday when the rest of the league plays. New Real coach Juande Ramos won his debut with Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, but lost his league debut.

Real goalie Iker Casillas, who didn't start in the win over Zenit St Petersburg earlier this week, surely wasn't to blame for the loss.

Casillas denied Messi with a diving save in the sixth minute, then had a blast from Thierry Henry well covered at the bottom left corner a minute later and he let the ball whiz by the post. Casillas had another stop on Messi in the 16th.

Although not as busy, Barca goalie Vctor Valdes made a big save midway through the first half to deny Royston Drenthe on a breakaway.

Casillas regained the spotlight later in the match, diving to his left to save a penalty kick from Eto'o in the 70th. Barcelona youngster Sergi Busquets drew the penalty, but the veteran Eto'o fired a few yards inside the right post and Casillas dove to knock the hard shot wide.

Minutes later, Casillas made two more great saves. He first denied a long blast from Eto'o and then scurried to his feet to turn away Messi from close range - even though the Argentine superstar was ruled offside.

Valdes came up with another big stop in the 78th, saving a close-range effort from Palanca to keep the game scoreless.

Barcelona finally broke through in the 83rd off a corner kick from Xavi. Carles Puyol won the corner kick with a leaping header, which he directed to the feet of Eto'o. The Cameroon striker directed the ball over the line, a split-second before Palanca could clear it out.

Henry set Messi up for the clinching goal, springing him into the left side of the box. Messi chipped the ball over Casillas and just by Fabio Cannavaro, who slammed into the post trying to prevent the goal. Messi's goal was his 10th of the season.

Also Saturday, Raul Albiol and Vicente scored in the second half as Valencia rallied to beat 10-man Espanyol. Valencia moved into second, one point ahead of idle Villarreal.

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.

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Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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