Bayern, Schalke face road tests

Soccer Betting Lines

04/23/2010 - Monchengladbach, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich, fresh off a 1-0 win over Lyon in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal Wednesday, goes to Monchengladbach on Saturday trying to maintain its Bundesliga lead.

Bayern leads Schalke by two points with just three matches left in the season, but coach Louis van Gaal faces a tough call this weekend with the return match against Lyon in France on Tuesday.

The Munich club tuned up for the first game in Germany with a 7-0 victory over Hannover last week but midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger warned the title race is far from over.

"The title race isn't over," Schweinsteiger said on the club's website. "We've won 7-0, which is all well and good, but we're still only two points clear."

Bayern's huge win did end the goal differential equation, with the Munich side now holding a 14-goal cushion in that category. Schalke visits Hertha Berlin on Saturday.

Arjen Robben scored the lone goal against Lyon, and leads Bayern with 20 goals in all competitions this season. He scored three goals in last week's win over Hannover, while Thomas Muller (who redirected Robben's goal against Lyon), and Ivica Olic each scored twice.

Bayern coach Louis van Gaal insisted he won't rest players this week, and does have a few players he doesn't have to worry about. Franck Ribery is suspended for the second leg after a red card in the first leg, and Danijel Pranjic will sit for accumulated yellows.

Captain Mark van Bommel, who missed the first leg through suspension, is also suspended for this weekend's Bundesliga match.

"We always play our strongest available team," Van Gaal said.

And Bayern can't afford to lose points, as Schalke visits last-place Hertha.

"We have the opportunity to achieve a great deal, and that fires you up," said Schweinsteiger.

Schalke beat Monchengladbach 3-1 last week and after Hertha, which is fighting for survival, plays Werder Bremen and Mainz. Bayern ends its season with games against Bochum and Hertha.

Hertha has gone 14 matches at home without a win, one game from tying a German record for a home winless streak. Hertha has not won at home since the first week of the season in August, 1-0 over Hannover.

On Friday, Cacau and Ciprian Marica scored four minutes apart in the first half and Stuttgart defeated Bochum 2-0 to move level on points with Borussia Dortmund for fifth place and the last Europa League berth. Bochum remained out of drop zone, but now has just a one-goal edge on Freiburg in differential.

Also Saturday, Mainz hosts Eintracht, Bayer Leverkusen hosts Hannover, Werder Bremen hosts Koln, and Nurnberg hosts Borussia Dortmund. On Sunday, Hoffenheim hosts Hamburg and Freiburg hosts Wolfsburg.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.