Chelsea earns scoreless draw at Barcelona

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04/28/2009 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Petr Cech made six saves and Chelsea earned a 0-0 tie against Barcelona on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals at Camp Nou.

Barcelona took 20 shots, including six on goal, but was held scoreless at the Camp Nou for the first time this season. Chelsea took just three shots - one on goal.

Barca was shutout in its fourth straight semifinal match, dating back to 2006. Barcelona tied the second leg of its semifinal series against AC Milan 0-0 that year, and was shut out in both legs against Manchester United last season.

Chelsea, which allowed five goals in its quarterfinal win over Liverpool, hosts the second leg at Stamford Bridge on May 6.

Barcelona was the most impressive team in the early stages of the first leg but failed to test Cech. Barca, led by its trio of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry - who have combined for 81 goals this season in La Liga and the Champions League - fired off numerous long-range efforts. Henry was the first to test Cech in the 34th, but his shot was knocked wide.

Chelsea countered with its lone scoring chance in the 39th but Barcelona goalie Victor Valdes came up big for his lone save of the game. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba had a one-on-one chance against Valdes, but Valdes denied Drogba's first shot and then deflected a potential second chance.

After half, the match turned into a physical affair with Henry being completely knocked out in the 48th minute after a collision with Chelsea's Alex. Henry was on the ground for a few minutes before wobbling off, but did continue.

Barca suffered a bigger blow just seconds later, though, when central defender Rafael Marquez collapsed with an apparent knee injury. Marquez was just walking the ball up the field when he crumpled and had to be helped off.

Barcelona's Daniel Alves was the next to go down in the 54th and Drogba took an elbow to the head in the 61st, but both were able to finish the match.

The Spanish giants finally started to test Cech in the last 25 minutes but they could not solve Cech, or just wasted the chance. Alves curled a free kick just over the crossbar in the 67th, and Eto'o was denied by a kick save from Cech in the 69th.

Barcelona's Carles Puyol, who replaced Marquez, hurt his club's chances in the second leg in the 75th when he picked up a yellow card. Puyol will miss the second leg, and Marquez is unlikely to play after picking up the injury.

Barca youngster Bojan Krkic missed a chance for the winner in the 90th, heading over the crossbar from close range, and Alexander Hleb was denied by Cech on a breakaway in the 93rd to cap the Blues' goalie's big match.

Chelsea, which was obviously playing for a tie, possessed the ball far less and didn't look very dangerous, but will likely be a different team at home as it tries to return to the Champions League final for the second straight year.

On Wednesday, Arsenal visits Manchester United for the first leg in the other semifinal in a clash of English rivals.

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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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