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03/17/2010 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi scored two goals and helped set up another on Wednesday as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 win over Stuttgart in the second leg of their Round of 16 contest in the Champions League.
Messi scored his first goal in the 13th minute to open the scoring, while Pedro added a second goal nine minutes later and Messi scored again on the hour mark before substitute Bojan Krkic capped the evening with a strike in the 89th minute.
The result gives the defending champions a 5-1 aggregate victory and moves them into the quarterfinals of the competition after a 1-1 draw in Germany in the first leg.
Many people were surprised by the fact that Stuttgart entered Wednesday's game on level terms with the Spanish giants, but Barca quickly took control of the game with a goal in the 13th minute from Messi, who took a pass in midfield, carried the ball to the top of the penalty area and fired a shot between two defenders that found the upper corner of the net.
It was a great individual effort from the Argentine, and he had a hand in Barca's second goal nine minutes later.
Messi chipped a ball into the box for Yaya Toure and he immediately squared it to Pedro in front of goal for a simple tap in.
The home side had things well in hand as the second half began, and after Toure went close with a shot from 20 yards, Messi scored from just about the same spot after turning a defender and driving a low effort past the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Messi had a chance to complete his hat trick eight minutes later when a pinpoint cross from Daniel Alves allowed him to head the ball on goal from close range, but Lehmann reacted well to keep it out.
A pair of substitutes then combined for Barca's fourth goal as Zlatan Ibrahimovic played a ball to Bojan in behind the Stuttgart defense and he neatly finished off the play.
Bordeaux became the second team from Ligue 1 to reach the quarterfinals as they held off Olympiacos, 2-1 on Wednesday to earn a 3-1 aggregate win.
Yoann Gourcuff scored five minutes into the match for Bordeaux, while Konstantinos Mitroglou equalized 25 minutes from time. However, Marouane Chamakh put the result out of reach with his header two minutes from time after a cross from Benoit Tremoulinas.
<< United signs defender Admas
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United signed defender Lyle Adams to
a developmental contract, the Major League Soccer club announced on Wednesday.
"We're excited to sign Lyle after identifying him at last year's draft as a
play
<< Canucks F Samuelsson out 2-to-3 weeks
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vancouver Canucks forward Mikael Samuelsson
is expected to miss the next 2-to-3 weeks with what the team is terming an
upper-body injury.
The Vancouver Sun is reporting the injury is shoulder-relate
<< Niners add CB Paymah
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers agreed to terms
with cornerback Karl Paymah on a one-year contract on Wednesday. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
The 27-year-old spent the 2009 season with Minnesot
<< Browns re-sign three
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns announced the re-signing of
linebacker Marcus Benard, linebacker Blake Costanzo and running back Chris
Jennings on Wednesday.
All three had been exclusive rights players, meaning they
Leighton to miss time with ankle sprain >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Michael
Leighton is slated to miss time following an injury suffered on Tuesday.
Leighton left the Flyers' 4-3 shootout loss at Nashville with a high
ankle spr
Lloyd steps down as British Davis Cup captain >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lloyd has stepped down at Britain's
Davis Cup captain.
The Brits have lost their last five ties, with its' most-recent one being an
embarrassing setback at the hands of Lithuania. World No. 4 An
Ljubicic stuns Djokovic at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-five performer Ivan Ljubicic
upset world No. 2 Novak Djokovic in Wednesday's fourth-round action at the
$4.5 million BNP Paribas Open.
The 20th-seeded Ljubicic toppled the second-seeded Djoko
Cliff Lee dealt five-game suspension >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball handed down a five-
game suspension and an undisclosed fine to Seattle Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee
Wednesday.
MLB's ruling indicated Lee intentionally threw at the head of Arizona c
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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